India Coronavirus Dispatch: Pandemic stalls rural housing scheme progress

Country reports over 50,000 fresh cases, what is a double mutant virus, pre-print animal study finds UK variant isn't more infectious-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Less than 6% of houses under rural housing scheme completed so far this year

Only 5.4% of houses approved under the central government's rural housing scheme in 2020-21 have been completed so far this year as the Covid-19 pandemic has stalled progress, a report in The Hindu said citing communication from the Rural Development Ministry to a Parliamentary Standing Committee last month. However, some states such as Odisha and Jharkhand used the scheme to provide jobs for migrant workers who returned to their villages during the crisis. Read more here

UK variant not more infectious: NIV-Pune’s pre-print animal study

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