India Coronavirus Dispatch: Online memorial to honour lives lost to Covid

How Covid disrupts our sense of smell, Delhi's sero survey, latest numbers on the pandemic-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Online memorial to honour lives lost to Covid-19

A portal called "National COVID Memorial" has been launched in memory of lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic in India, according to a report in The Indian Express. The portal, developed by Pune-based nonprofit COVID Care Network (CCN), was launched on January 30 to mark the completion of a year since the country reported its first case. CCN was founded by Abhijit Chowdhury, professor and head of department of hepatology at the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research in Kolkata. Read more here

IN NUMBERS: 94 deaths and 8,635 new cases in 24 hours

The country's Covid-19 tally rose to 1,07,66,245 on Tuesday with 8,635 fresh infections, according to a report in the Scroll. The pandemic has led to 1,54,486 fatalities in India in total. Ninety-four deaths occurred during the past 24 hours.

The total number of active cases in the country stood at 1,63,353. The recovery rate is 97%, with 1,04,48,406 people having recovered from the infection. The vaccination drive, which kicked off on January 16, has inoculated 39,50,156 recipients so far. The national capital recorded 121 new Covid-19 infections and three fatalities, the lowest in 10 months. Odisha has not reported a single Covid-19 death for a week, the report said. Read more here

How Covid disrupts our sense of smell

Covid-19 is not the only virus that affects our sense of smell, but it is unique in the way it happens, according to a report in The Conversation. For instance, the common cold leads to an inflammatory response in the nose, and that leads to a buildup of mucus which mutes your ability to smell. The unique thing about Covid-19 is that it does not trigger a nasal inflammatory response. The virus crosses the blood-brain barrier and enters the nervous system. The virus affects the neural connections that are essential to detect an odour, the report said. Read more here

Delhi sero survey shows 56% have antibodies

In a serological survey that was held in January, about 56% of the over 28,000 people whose blood samples were collected showed antibodies against Covid, according to a report in The Hindu. The fifth and the largest serological survey carried out by the Delhi government so far was to develop a sense for the proportion of the population with antibodies against the pandemic, before the vaccination drive kicked off. Blood samples of people belonging to different age groups were collected. In some districts in Delhi, the seroprevalence was even over 56%, according to the report. Read more here

Stop smoking, sleep well before getting the jab: Experts

Getting sound sleep, exercising and avoiding cigarettes can increase the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccination, according to a report in The New Indian Express. Experts say smoking, alcohol use, acute psychological stress, lack of sleep and exercise can weaken the immune system. Smoking leads to weaker antibody response. Experts have also observed that antibodies wane faster in smokers after vaccination. Sleep deprivation and psychological stress can also lower antibody production, according to the report. Read more here