Page 13 - Coronavirus Tests

WHO worried about surge of Covid cases in China amid lack of information

The head of the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday the agency is concerned about the risk to life in China amid the coronavirus' explosive spread across the country and the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency recently met with Chinese officials to underline the importance of sharing more details about COVID-19 issues including hospitalisation rates and genetic sequences, even as the pandemic continues to recede globally since it began in late 2019. Data remains essential for WHO to carry out regular, rapid and robust risk assessments of the global situation, Tedros said at a press briefing. Tedros said he understood why numerous countries have recently taken measures against travellers coming from China, saying it's understandable that some countries are taking steps to prevent their citizens given the void of information about COVID-19. WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said the testing ..

Genome sequencing detects four cases of Omicron sub-variant BF.7 in Bengal

Four cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7 were detected in West Bengal, a health official said on Wednesday. Genome sequencing of the four people, who have recently returned from the US, confirmed that they were infected with the new variant of the coronavirus, he said. The condition of the four patients is stable, he said. Of the four people, three are from Nadia district, while one person hails from Bihar but currently resides in Kolkata, the official told PTI. Last week, two persons, including a foreign national, tested positive for COVID-19 at Kolkata airport, and their genome sequencing later confirmed they were infected with the BF.7 subvariant of Omicron.

China urges 'final victory' over Covid as global concern mounts over spread

China has been particularly critical of decisions by some countries to impose a requirement for a Covid test on its citizens, saying they are unreasonable and lack scientific basis

Five cases of Covid's XBB.1.5 variant found in India, says INSACOG

Five cases of COVID-19's XBB.1.5 variant, responsible for the rise in cases in the US, have been found in India, according to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). Of the five, three cases were found in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka and Rajasthan, according to INSACOG figures on Tuesday. The XBB.1.5 strain is a relative of the Omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the Omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants. Combined, XBB and XBB.1.5 make up 44 per cent of cases in the US. COVID-19 variant Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India with 'XBB' being the most prevalent sub-lineage circulating all over the country, INSACOG has said. INSACOG reports genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 across the country through sequencing of samples from sentinel sites and international passengers arriving in India.

India logs 132 new Covid infections; active cases decline to 2,582

) India saw a single-day rise of 134 in coronavirus infections, with the active cases declining to 2,582, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,78,956). The overall death toll to date stands at 5,30,707, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity was recorded at 0.09 per cent, while the Weekly positivity was pegged at 0.13 per cent. Active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website. A decrease of 88 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who recovered from the infection surged to 4,41,45,667, while 1.19 per cent of those infected succumbed to it. According to the ministry's website, 220.11 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccina

South Korea begins Covid-19 testing for people arriving from China

Under the new restrictions which came into effect from Monday, all arrivals from China are obliged to undergo a PCR test within the first day of their entry

Maharashtra records eight new Covid-19 cases in a day; active tally 159

Maharashtra on Monday recorded eight fresh coronavirus cases, while no new death linked to the infection was registered in the state, the health department said. With this, the state's overall COVID-19 tally rose to 81,36,687, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,417, the department said in a bulletin. On Sunday, the state had recorded 16 cases of the respiratory illness, but no fatality. Mumbai logged two cases in the last 24 hours, said the bulletin. It said 10 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,88,111 and leaving the state with 159 active cases. The case fatality rate in the state stood at 1.82 per cent. The bulletin said 1,52,742 international passengers have arrived at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports since the state government began screening travellers on December 24 in the backdrop of a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases in some countries, including China. It said RT-PCR tests have been ...

Hong Kong's actual Covid count could be up to 200,000 daily: Researchers

Airfinity predicts cases in Beijing are likely to have peaked by now, with hospitalisations and deaths likely to peak in the next 1-2 weeks

Health Minister reviews screening, Covid testing facility at Delhi airport

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Monday reviewed the screening and Covid testing facility at the Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport amid a rise in coronavirus cases in some countries, including China. The government has made random Covid tests mandatory for two per cent of passengers arriving on each international flight irrespective of their port of departure. Besides, passengers arriving in India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand are being mandatorily required to provide Covid negative reports from January 1. The test has to be conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey to India and the negative report from the RT-PCR test has to be uploaded on the Air Suvidha portal before departure. This will also apply to passengers transiting through the six countries irrespective of their originating nations before coming to any Indian Airport, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to his Civil Aviation Ministry ...

No BF.7 Omicron variant in Tamil Nadu, shows genome sequencing report

The Health Minister also said that all the patients are recovering well after being in home isolation

India logs 173 new coronavirus infections; active tally declines to 2,670

India has recorded 173 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have declined to 2,670, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The total tally of Covid cases has been recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,78,822) and the death toll stands at 5,30,707 with two fatalities -- one reconciled by Kerala and one reported by Uttarakhand -- in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry's website. The ministry said a decrease of 36 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,45, 445, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent, it said. The ministry on its website stated that 220.10 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far. India's COVID-19 ta

53 international arrivals found Covid positive as random testing continues

5,666 samples of passengers were collected for Covid-19 testing. Of the total samples collected, 53 international travellers tested positive for Covid, said the source

Covid travel curbs against Chinese visitors 'discriminatory': Report

Some places have been taken aback by the scale of outbreak and expressed scepticism, with the US, S Korea, India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan imposing Covid tests for travellers from China

Covid-19 might not go away but no major outbreak likely in India: Expert

It is unlikely that Covid will be completely eliminated but there seems little chance of a significant outbreak of the disease in India in the next two months, a top infectious diseases expert said on Friday. The remarks of Dr Parvaiz Koul, director of the SKIMS Hospital in Kashmir, came in the backdrop of the highly transmissible Omicron strains, mostly BF.7, causing a spike in coronavirus cases in many countries, including China. "It is uncertain when or if Covid will become an endemic, but it is unlikely that it will be completely eliminated. We may see occasional outbreaks, if new mutations emerge, like in China. In India, it seems unlikely that there will be a significant new outbreak in the next two-three months," Koul, a leading pulmonologist and researcher on infectious diseases, said. Taking to Twitter, Koul said India had an advantage in dealing with Covid due to widespread hybrid immunity but suggested that the high-risk group might have to go for a booster dose. There i

Lack of information on China's Covid outbreak stirs global concerns

Moves by the US, Japan and others to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak and the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough. There have been no reports of new variants to date. But given the country's track record, the worry is that China may not be sharing data on any signs of evolving strains that could spark fresh outbreaks elsewhere. The US, in announcing a negative test requirement on Wednesday for passengers from China, cited both the surge in infections and what it said was a lack of information, including the genomic sequencing of the virus strains in the country. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed a similar concern about a lack of information when he announced a testing requirement for passengers from China earlier this week. More broadly, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said recently that the WHO needs more information

US officially records over 100 million Covid-19 cases, shows CDC data

Experts said the actual number is much higher as people testing at home do not relay their results to public health departments, and many people do not do tests any more

US will require Covid testing for travellers from China as infections surge

The US announced new COVID-19 testing requirements on Wednesday for all travellers from China, joining other nations imposing restrictions because of a surge of infections. The increase in cases across China follows the rollback of the nation's strict anti-virus controls. China's "zero COVID" policies had kept China's infection rate low but fuelled public frustration and crushed economic growth. Beginning Jan. 5, all travellers to the US from China will be required to take a COVID-19 test no more than two days before travel and provide a negative test before boarding their flight. The testing applies to anyone 2 years and older. Other countries have taken similar steps in an effort to keep infections from spreading beyond China's borders. Japan will require a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival for travellers from China, and Malaysia announced new tracking and surveillance measures. India, South Korea and Taiwan are requiring virus tests for visitors from China. Lunar New Year, whi

RT-PCR report of passengers from China, 4 other nations must: Official

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya is expected to visit the Delhi airport on Thursday to take stock of the situation

Japan registers 415 new Covid deaths, highest ever tally in a single day

Japan said it had 216,219 newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, which marks a rise of 4 per cent from a week earlier

US considers new Covid prevention measures for arrivals from China: Report

Consumer confidence in Finland hit a record low in December this year, mainly because consumers' estimates of their own finances are on the decline, according to the country's statistical agency