Page 19 - Coronavirus Tests

Data story: India records 294 new Covid cases; active tally at 6,209

India has so far administered 2,198,712,952 vaccine doses

Govt scraps filling Air Suvidha form for international travellers

The requirement of random post-arrival testing of 2 per cent of arriving passengers too has been done away with in the new guideline

Maharashtra sees 119 new Covid cases, one death in a day; active tally 821

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 119 new cases of coronavirus and a fatality that raised the tally of infections to 81,35,010 and toll to 1,48,403, an official from the state health department said. At least 156 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the count of recoveries to 79,85,786, he said. On Thursday, the state had recorded 108 cases and zero fatality. As per a bulletin issued by the health department, of the latest infections, Mumbai accounted for 13 cases, while the only casualty of the day was reported in Pune. With this, the state is now left with 821 active cases, it said. The fatality rate stands at 1.82 per cent, while the recovery rate is at 98.17 per cent, it was stated. As many as 15,410 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests conducted to 8,55,05,054. Maharashtra's coronavirus figures for the day: Fresh cases: 119; Fatality: 1; Active cases: 821; Tests: 15,410.

Australia reports 38% spike in new Covid cases amid fourth pandemic wave

An average of 10,799 new infections were reported nationally every day in the week to Friday, reports Xinhua

Covid-19 infection may reactivate several latent viruses in body: Study

COVID-19 can reactivate several latent viruses lurking in the body's cells following previous infections, particularly in people with chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a study. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, contribute to our understanding of the causes of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME/CFS, and prospects of reaching a diagnosis. Severe, long-term fatigue, post-exertional malaise, pain and sleep problems are characteristic signs of the disease. The causes of the condition are not known with certainty, although it has been established that the onset in most cases follows a viral or bacterial infection. "Our study now shows that objective measurements are available that show physiological differences in the body's reaction to viruses between ME patients and healthy controls," said Anders Rosen, a professor at Linkoping University, Sweden, and leader of the study. The extensive spread of the SARS-CoV-2 ...

Maharashtra sees 108 new Covid cases, 131 recover; active tally 859

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 108 COVID-19 cases and 131 recoveries, while the fatality count stood unchanged, a health official said. The state's tally is 81,34,891, its recovery count stands at 79,85,630, and the toll remains 1,48,402, he said. The addition to the tally is a dip from the 156 cases reported on Wednesday, he added. The active tally of the Maharashtra was 859, he added. Mumbai led with 26 of the new cases, the official said. As per health department data, the recovery rate in the state stands at 98.17 per cent. So far, 8,54,89,644 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 13,617 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Maharashtra's coronavirus figures for the day: Fresh cases: 108; Fatality: 0; Active cases: 859; Tests: 13,617.

Chinese city Guangzhou plans 250,000 quarantine beds to fight Covid

China's southern metropolis of Guangzhou announced plans on Thursday to build quarantine facilities for nearly 250,000 people to fight surging coronavirus outbreaks even as the national government tries to reduce the impact of anti-disease controls that have confined millions of people to their homes. Guangzhou, a city of 13 million people and the biggest of a series of hot spots across China with outbreaks since early October, reported 9,680 new cases in the past 24 hours. That was about 40 per cent of the 23,276 cases reported nationwide. China's infection numbers are low compared with the United States and other major countries, but the ruling Communist Party is trying to isolate every case. Repeated closures of neighbourhoods, schools and businesses are fuelling public frustration and clashes with health workers. The epidemic situation in Guangzhou still is very serious," said a city official, Wang Baosen, according to the South Metropolis Daily newspaper. Authorities in Guangz

Do you still need to wear a mask? Here's what doctors have to say

Doctors say that most people have some form of immunity against the virus already

Indoor relative humidity could influence Covid transmission, says study

Scientists have found that indoor relative humidity may also influence transmission of the COVID-19 virus, according to a study. Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air compared to the total moisture the air can hold at a given temperature before saturating and forming condensation. In a study, conducted by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the research team reported that maintaining an indoor relative humidity between 40 and 60 per cent is associated with relatively lower rates of Covid-19 infections and deaths, while indoor conditions outside this range are associated with worse Covid-19 outcomes. To put this into perspective, most people are comfortable between 30 and 50 per cent relative humidity, and an airplane cabin is at around 20 per cent relative humidity. The findings, that appear in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, are based on the team's analysis of Covid-19 data combined with meteorological measurements from 12

Maharashtra reports 67 new Covid cases, no casualty; active tally 962

Maharashtra on Monday reported 67 new cases of coronavirus that took the tally of infections to 81,34,507, an official from the state health department said. The toll remained unchanged at 1,48,401, while the count of recoveries rose to 79,85,144 after 116 patients recovered from the disease, the official said. Of the latest cases, Pune circle led with 26 new cases, followed by 25 in Mumbai circle, nine in Nashik, two in Latur, three in Akola and one each in Nagpur and Kolhapur, he said. With this, the state is now left with 962 active cases, the official said. A total of 8,54,47,938 swab samples have been tested in the state so far, of which 6,458 were tested in the last 24 hours, he said. The recovery rate in the state stood at 98.16 per cent, while the fatality rate was 1.82 per cent, the official said. As per the latest report by BJ Medical College, a 29 year-old man from Pune has found to be infected with the new B.Q.1.1 variant of the Omicron family. He had travelled to Ire

Maharashtra records 146 new Covid cases, 222 recover; active tally 1,169

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 146 COVID-19 cases, which took the state's infection count to 81,34,150, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,400, a health official said. The addition to the tally was a slight dip from the 169 cases witnessed a day earlier, when two deaths were also reported, he pointed out. Mumbai circle led with 78 new cases, followed by 54 in Pune circle, 17 in Akola circle, six in Nagpur circle, five in Aurangabad circle. three each in Kolhapur, Nashik and Latur circles, he said. The recovery count increased by 222 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,84,581, leaving the state with an active caseload of 1,169, the official said. Pune leads with 335 active cases, followed by 331 in Mumbai and 228 in Thane, he said. So far, 8,54,09,118 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 14,983 in the last 24 hours, as per state health department data. It also showed the recovery rate was 98.16 per cent and the fatality rate stood at 1.82 per

India reports 833 new Covid-19 cases, active tally dips to 12,553

India saw a single day rise of 833 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,46,65,643, while the active cases declined to 12,553, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll has climbed to 5,30,528 with eight fatalities which includes three reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprises 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.78 per cent, according to the health ministry website. A decrease of 199 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,22,562, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website 219.79 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20

Delhi records 30 fresh coronavirus cases, one death in past 24 hours

Delhi recorded 30 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday with a positivity rate of 0.62 per cent, while one more person died due to the viral disease, according to a data shared by the health department here. The city had witnessed 36 cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 0.79 per cent. With these cases, Delhi's infection tally has risen to 20,06,710, while the death toll stands at 26,514. On November 7, the city had logged 21 cases with a positivity rate of 0.93 per cent. On November 8-9, the city government did not issue bulletins. Delhi on November 4 had recorded 54 coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 1.22 per cent, and two deaths. The fresh cases came out of the 4,824 tests conducted the previous day. The number of active cases stands at 182, while the number of patients in home isolation is 138. Of the 8,768 Covid beds in the city hospitals, only 36 are occupied, the data added.

Maharashtra records 169 new Covid cases, 2 deaths, 222 recoveries in a day

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 169 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, which took the state's tally to 81, 34,150 and the toll to 1,48,400, a health official said. On Thursday, the state had logged 169 cases, he pointed out. The deaths took place in Raigad and Akola, while Mumbai led with 41 cases, the official said. The recovery count increased by 222 in the last 24 hours and touched 79,84,581, leaving the state with an active caseload of 1,169, he said. State health department data showed the fatality rate was 1.82 per cent and the recovery rate was 98.16 per cent. So far, 8,54,09,118 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 15,929 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Maharashtra coronavirus figures for the day: Fresh cases: 169; Fatality: 2; Active cases: 1,619; Tests: 15,929.

Steady dip in Covid due to hybrid immunity, but virus here to stay: Experts

Hybrid immunity has led to the steady decline of Covid in India but the virus is destined to stay long-term, becoming endemic rather than getting eliminated, say scientists as masks rapidly become a thing of yesterday and pandemic memories begin to fade. Though Covid deaths have virtually ceased and case numbers are sliding, it would be a mistake to drop caution, they said, pointing to the impact of long Covid and the need to continue testing. According to immunologist Satyajit Rath, the future trajectory of the Covid pandemic depends to a large extent on two questions will new variants with unexpected characteristics arise, and how long will vaccine or infection-triggered immune protection last. "While the outlook seems good, I think caution is advisable," Rath, professor emeritus at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, told PTI. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, India recorded its lowest single-day rise of 625 fresh COVID-19 cases since April 9, 2020 and report

Coronavirus cases increase in Australia amid warnings of new wave

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly recently urged Australians to take additional precautions to maximise their protection

Japanese govt drafts policy bracing for 8th wave of Covid-19 infections

Japan's Health Ministry on Thursday also decided at a meeting to revise the current five-scale alert of infection status to a four-scale one

Stressful circumstances worsen symptoms of long-term Covid, shows study

Of these surviving patients, 451(57%) completed 6-month and/or 12-month follow-up

Maharashtra records 169 new Covid cases in a day; active tally at 1,224

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 169 fresh coronavirus cases, but no new death linked to the infection, while 265 patients recovered in the state, the health department said. With this, the state's overall COVID-19 tally rose to 81,33,981, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,398, the department said in a bulletin. On Wednesday, the state had registered 130 cases and two fatalities related to the respiratory illness. Out of the new cases, Mumbai accounted for 42 and Pune 22, among other districts. The coronavirus recovery rate in the state stood at 98.16 per cent, while the case fatality rate was 1.82 per cent. The bulletin said 265 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,84,359 and leaving the state with 1,224 active cases. It said 13,098 new coronavirus tests were conducted in the state, raising their total count to 8,53,93,826.

WHO reports nearly 90% drop in Covid deaths globally since February

The World Health Organisation chief on Wednesday said a nearly 90% drop in recent COVID-19 deaths globally compared to nine months ago provides cause for optimism, but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as variants continue to crop up. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that last week just over 9,400 deaths linked to the coronavirus were reported to the WHO. In February of this year, he said, weekly deaths had topped 75,000 globally. We have come a long way, and this is definitely cause for optimism. But we continue to call on all governments, communities and individuals to remain vigilant, he said at a virtual news conference from the WHO's Geneva headquarters. Almost 10,000 deaths a week is 10,000 too many for a disease that can be prevented and treated. The WHO chief said testing and sequencing rates remain low globally, vaccination gaps between rich and poor countries are still wide, and new variants continue to proliferate. The U.N. health agency said th