LIVE: UP restricts visitors to indoor events at 100 as Covid-19 tally rises

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,780,208, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 873,046, Andhra Pradesh 862,000, Tamil Nadu 769,000 and Kerala 562,735

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Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra to decide on flights, trains to Delhi in 8 days

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Study shows Favipiravir provides multiple benefits in Covid-19 treatment: Glenmark

Drug firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Monday said as per a recently published data the oral antiviral medication Favipiravir was found to provide multiple benefits in COVID-19 treatment including faster time to clinical cure. These findings were observed in a randomised, controlled Phase 3 clinical study conducted by the company and the results have been published online in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID), Glenmark said in a regulatory filing.

 

The Phase 3 study with Favipiravir, sold under the brand name FabiFlu, by the company was conducted in 150 patients. Favipiravir was found to provide multiple treatment benefits, demonstrated by faster time to clinical cure, and significantly delayed the need for supportive oxygen therapy, Glenmark said.

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Karnataka health committee strongly opposes reopening of schools

With winter setting in and discouraging attendance in colleges, Karnataka is not likely to reopen schools in the state till winter. With this, it is almost certain that the schools might be reopened only in 2021. A senior education department official told IANS that even the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) headed by Dr M. K. Sudharshan too has recommended the same.

 

The TAC is formed by the Karnataka Health and Family welfare ministry to advise the government on various aspects related to the pandemic. The schools are closed due to the pandemic for more than eight months and most of the school students were depending on the on-line classes.

 

"The TAC held a meeting on Sunday and arrived at a unanimous conclusion that it would not be advisable for the state government to reopen schools at this juncture, when winter is setting in," he said.

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Covishield Covid-19 vaccine to be soon widely available: Serum Institute of India CEO

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Covid-19 threat far from over, be alert to control pandemic: UP CM Adityanath

The threat of COVID-19 is far from ending and people have to remain alert to control the pandemic until a vaccine is developed, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday.

 

"The threat of COVID-19 is far from ending. Our scientists are making great efforts towards developing a vaccine, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Still, we will have to be alert until the vaccine is developed and is given to every person," Adityanath said after inaugurating an Apheresis facility here for the treatment of COVID-19 and dengue patients.

 

Commenting on the state's efforts in the fight against COVID-19, he said when testing began in Uttar Pradesh, only 72 tests could be conducted in a day, whereas 1.45 lakh tests were conducted in the state on Sunday alone. READ ON...

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AstraZeneca vaccine highly effective in preventing Covid-19

AstraZeneca announced Monday that positive high-level results from an interim analysis of clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the UK and Brazil showed it was highly effective in preventing the disease, the primary endpoint, and no hospitalisations or severe cases of the disease were reported in participants receiving the vaccine. There were a total of 131 Covid-19 cases in the interim analysis.

 

One dosing regimen showed vaccine efficacy of 90 per cent when AZD1222 was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart, and another dosing regimen showed 62 per cent efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. The combined analysis from both dosing regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70 per cent.

 

All results were statistically significant. More data will continue to accumulate and additional analysis will be conducted, refining the efficacy reading and establishing the duration of protection.

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Coronavirus vaccine update: Efficacy ranged from 62% to 90% depending on dosage given, AstraZeneca and Oxford said

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SC says Covid situation worsened in Delhi, Guj, asks to file status reports

India's health minister said on Sunday a locally-developed Covid-19 vaccine candidate could complete its final trials in a month or two, raising hopes for a rapid roll-out in a country with the world's second highest number of infections.
 

The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and privately-held Bharat Biotech this month started third-stage trials of COVAXIN, in a process that would involve 26,000 volunteers. It is the most advanced Indian experimental vaccine. Read on...

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Coronavirus vaccine progress: Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine shows 70% efficacy

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Coronavirus in the US: Leading US hospital nearly overwhelmed amid surging Covid-19 cases

Amid surging Covid-19 cases across the US and an incompetent response by the federal government, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, one of the nation's leading hospitals in handling dangerous and unusual diseases, has been nearly overwhelmed, according to a media report.

 

With the country's only federal quarantine facility and a large bio-containment unit, the hospital in Omaha, Nebraska is believed as the best-prepared hospital in the US to handle a pandemic, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday citing the report published by The Atlantic.

 

Its staff began specifically preparing for emerging infections after the SARS outbreak in 2003 and it has detailed pandemic plans as well as experience in handling infectious diseases such as Ebola, said the report.

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Coronavirus India and the world: A look at where India stands among 10 most affected countries in total number of cured cases

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Coronavirus: Kerala has added 5,254 cases to take its tally to 562,695

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"Is lockdown the only solution?", says Delhi High Court

"Is lockdown the only solution?", says Delhi High Court while refusing to hear a plea seeking lockdown in Delhi with immediate effect

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MMR vaccine may protect against Covid-19, says study

The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine may provide protection against Covid-19, according to a study that could also explain why children have a much lower case rate and death rate of the disease than adults.

 

The MMR vaccine has been theorised to provide protection against COVID-19, and now the study, published in the journal mBio, provides further proof of this by showing that mumps IgG titers, or levels of IgG antibody, are inversely correlated with severity in recovered COVID-19 patients previously vaccinated with the MMR II vaccine.

 

MMR II contains the Edmonston strain of measles, the Jeryl Lynn (B-level) strain of mumps, and the Wistar RA 27/3 strain of rubella, the researchers said.

 

"We found a statistically significant inverse correlation between mumps titer levels and COVID-19 severity in people under age 42 who have had MMR II vaccinations," said lead study author Jeffrey E. Gold, president of World Organization in Georgia, US.

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Arunachal reports 24 new COVID-19 cases, 35 more recoveries

The number of COVID-19 recoveries surpassed fresh cases in Arunachal Pradesh, with 35 people recuperating from the disease on Monday and 24 more testing positive for the infection, a health department official here said.

 

The tally in the northeastern state rose to 16,061, with the detection of the fresh cases, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

Two Assam Rifles jawans and three health workers are among the new patients.

 

A total of 14,972 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from various hospitals, with the recovery rate rising to 93.21 per cent, Jampa said.