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1:12 PM

Ivermectin, HCQ not part of 'clinical management' for adult Covid patients

Two commonly used drugs Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have been dropped from the revised clinical guidance for management of adult Covid 19 patients.

 

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Covid-19 national task force has made the recommendation to drop the use of these two drugs in its revised guidelines.

 

The clinical guidance version dated May 19, 2021, prepared jointly by the AIIMS and ICMR -- national task force for Covid-19 and the Joint Monitoring Group was reviewed on August 20, in the context of emerging evidence of Ivermactine and hydroxychloroquine. After review, the medicines were removed from the guidance document.

 

The reasons behind dropping Hydroxychloroquine also included no mortality benefit, increases the risk of address drug effect (ADE) when co-administered with Azithromycin.

12:46 PM

WHO recommends antibody treatment for critical Covid patients

Covid-19 patients at high risk of hospitalisation or those with severe disease should be given a combination of two antibody treatments, according to latest World Health Organization guidelines published in The BMJ on Friday.

 

The WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) panel recommends treatment combining casirivimab and imdevimab for two specific groups of patients with Covid-19.

 

The first are patients with non-severe Covid-19 who are at highest risk of hospitalisation and the second are those with severe or critical Covid-19 who are seronegative, meaning they have not mounted their own antibody response to Covid-19.

 

The first recommendation is based on new evidence from three trials that have not yet been peer reviewed.

 

The trial show that casirivimab and imdevimab may reduce the risk of hospitalisation and duration of symptoms in those at highest risk of severe disease, such as unvaccinated, older, or immunosuppressed patients.

12:10 PM

Nobel Prize ceremonies cancelled again over Covid

Due to the uncertainty of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this year's Nobel Prize laureates will receive their awards in their home countries for the second year running, the Nobel Foundation announced.

 

The traditional banquet will be cancelled, but the award ceremony will be held at Stockholm's City Hall on December 10 in the presence of a local audience, Xinhua news agency quoted the Foundation as saying in a statement on Thursday.

 

The event will be broadcast on TV and on the Nobel Foundation's social media channels.

 

"I think everybody would like the Covid-19 pandemic to be over, but we are not there yet," Vidar Helgesen, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, was quoted as saying in the statement.

11:56 AM

In 2020, the year of Covid-19, Indians donated 43% more: Survey

The average amount of individual donations to philanthropy in India went up by 43% during the pandemic, says a report released on September 24 by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), a global non-profit, based on online surveys of 2,000 Indians across cities. More than 60% of respondents said the government and businesses should have contributed more to charitable causes during the pandemic.

 

The India Giving Report 2021 looked at everyday giving--individual acts of charity in the form of money, goods or community services--and found that 85% of the respondents had supported charities or their community in "direct response to the pandemic". Two in three gave by way of money or goods to a charity or community service, and three in 10 gave money to their friends, family or neighbours, as is the practice in India. Read on...

11:37 AM

Perth might not be able to host fifth Ashes Test due to Covid restrictions

There are serious doubts on whether the Optus Stadium in Perth would be able to host the fifth and final match of the Ashes series in January next year as a surging Covid-19 pandemic is seeing border controls being implemented more strictly.

 

West Australia has taken stringent measures to control Covid-19 and is unlikely to open its borders to New South Wales and Victoria this year and possibly the beginning of next year.

 

Mike McKenna, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Optus Stadium -- the venue for the fifth Ashes Test from January 14-18 -- said that "there's no way the summer could go ahead as scheduled in the current climate".

 

"But I think the COVID situation even now would make you question that scheduling (of the Ashes Test). The direction they're going in, it's going to be very difficult for Cricket Australia to try to find a program that's going to work easily. They're no doubt thinking about that now," McKenna told SEN's Dwayne's World on Thursday.

11:24 AM

India administers over 84 cr Covid-19 vaccine doses so far

India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage has crossed the 84 crore mark, the Union Health Ministry informed on Friday.

 

"With the administration of 72,20,642 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage crossed the landmark of 84 crores (84,15,18,026) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 82,33,242 sessions," the ministry said in a press release.

 

As per the data from the ministry, Uttar Pradesh is leading in the vaccination coverage with 9,88,83,207 doses administered in the state. Meanwhile, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have administered 7,69,21,190 and 5,98,81,731 vaccine doses respectively so far.

10:17 AM

CDC endorses Covid booster for millions of older Americans

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the US vaccination drive against Covid-19.

 

CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late Thursday. The advisers said boosters should be offered to people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those ages 50 to 64 who have risky underlying health problems. The extra dose would be given once they are at least six months past their last Pfizer shot.

 

However, Walensky decided to make one recommendation that the panel had rejected.

10:15 AM

In 2020, the year of Covid-19, Indians donated 43% more: Survey

The average amount of individual donations to philanthropy in India went up by 43% during the pandemic, says a report released on September 24 by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), a global non-profit, based on online surveys of 2,000 Indians across cities. More than 60% of respondents said the government and businesses should have contributed more to charitable causes during the pandemic.

 

The India Giving Report 2021 looked at everyday giving--individual acts of charity in the form of money, goods or community services--and found that 85% of the respondents had supported charities or their community in "direct response to the pandemic". Two in three gave by way of money or goods to a charity or community service, and three in 10 gave money to their friends, family or neighbours, as is the practice in India. Read on...

9:35 AM

Coronavirus in India: Latest update by MoHFW

Summary of MoHFW data (September 24)

Active cases: 300,162 (Net decrease: 1,478)

Deaths: 446,368 (Net increase: 318)

Cured: 32,848,273 (Net increase: 32,542)

Total cases: 33,594,803 (Net increase: 31,382)

Total vaccination: 841,518,026 (Increase over previous day: 7,220,642)

 

9:14 AM

Despite Covid-19 India ahead of its exports target, says Piyush Goyal

Despite Covid-19 and other issues, India is ahead of its exports target, said Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday in Mumbai.

 

Speaking during an interaction with bankers and exporters on export financing issues, Goyal said, "As of today, we are ahead of export target despite Covid-19. We will be at about $190 billion by the end of September 2021."

 

Mentioning that this is the first time crossing this figure in the first six months of the FY, the minister said that, "Exports are at the cusp of exponential growth. Government is working to bring a quantum leap in Quality, Productivity and Efficiency, to make our export basket Bigger, Better and Broader."

9:02 AM

Number of Covid-19 cases in Brazil rises by 24,611 to over 21.3 million

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 24,611 to 21,308,178 within the past 24 hours, the national Ministry of Health said on late Thursday.

 

According to the ministry, the death toll has risen by 648 to 592,964 people within the same period of time.

 

More than 20.31 million patients have recovered since the start of the outbreak.

 

A day earlier, the country confirmed 36,473 new coronavirus cases, with 876 fatalities.

8:57 AM

Climate change and Covid-19 cast shadow over jet demand outlook

Jetmakers see strong demand for airliners even as the industry braces for tough new environmental measures, but some financiers have raised doubts over forecasts that the $150 billion industry will return to pre-Covid growth in just a few years.

 

Lessors and underwriters of securities that finance aircraft purchases met in London this week to survey Covid damage and contemplate the impact of moves to combat climate change through regulation and new technology.

 

Some speculated that the industry's deepest fear could come true: These trends might shorten the operational lifespan - and hurt the valuations - of even the most modern aircraft. Read on...

8:44 AM

Maharashtra: Thane district's Covid-19 count rises by 297, death toll by four

With the addition of 297 coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 5,57,436, an official said on Friday.

 

These new cases were reported on Thursday, he said.

 

As the virus claimed the lives of four persons during the day, the death toll in the district rose to 11,390.

 

Thane's Covid-19 mortality rate is 2.04 per cent, he added.

 

In neighboring Palghar district, the infection tally has gone up to 1,35,588, while the death toll is 3,273, another official said.

8:39 AM

Govt releases guidelines for health workers for post-Covid management

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday released guidelines on the treatment of sequelae of Covid-19 which will help in building the capacity of doctors, nurses, paramedics and community health workers across India to deal with long-term effects of the coronavirus infection.

 

The minister said that the modules have been prepared to provide guidance to doctors and healthcare workers to deal with the issue of long-term effects of Covid-19, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

 

He said that proactive and comprehensive treatment of Covid-19 is required to ensure minimum side effects and no negative effect of the treatment. Read on...

8:32 AM

Govt allows Covid vaccines at home to those with restricted mobility

The government Thursday announced that differently-abled people and those with restricted mobility will be given Covid vaccine doses at their homes.

 

Addressing a press conference here, Union Health Ministry officials also said the country is still in the midst of the second wave of Covid-19 even though the number of daily new cases are declining.

 

However, they added, 62.73% of total infections reported last week were from Kerala alone, which is also the only state with over 1 lakh active Covid cases.

 

Thirty-three districts in the country are now reporting over 10 per cent weekly positivity rate, while 23 are recording between 5-10 per cent, the officials said. Read on...