News Analysis India

Tag: Coronavirus

  • Maharashtra records 1,881 Covid-19 cases, 81 per cent rise; no death

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 1,881 new coronavirus cases, 81 per cent more than the previous day and highest since February 18, and also reported one case of B.A.5 variant, the state health department said.

    State capital Mumbai alone accounted for 1,242 new cases, almost double the Monday’s count. No new pandemic-related death was reported during the day. On Monday, the state had recorded 1,036 infections while Mumbai had reported 676 cases. It may be noted that generally fewer cases are recorded on Mondays as fewer tests are carried out during weekends.

    On Tuesday, Maharashtra’s Covid-19 case tally rose to 78,96,114, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,47,866. Tuesday’s daily rise in cases was highest since February 18 when the state had recorded 2,086 new cases.

    As per the latest report of `whole genomic sequencing’ from BJ Medical College, Pune, a 31-year-old woman from Pune was found positive for B.A.5 variant, the official release said. “The woman was asymptomatic and recovered in home isolation,” the release added.

    On May 28, for the first time in Maharashtra four patients of B.A.4 sub-lineage and three cases of B.A.5 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of coronavirus were found.

    The daily infection rise in Mumbai at 1,242 was the highest since January 29 when the financial capital of India had reported 1,411 new cases. Mumbai has been driving the state’s coronavirus figures in the last few days.

    There are 8,432 active cases in Maharashtra now. The districts of Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalna, Akola, Buldhana and Gondia have no active cases as of Tuesday.

    As many as 878 patients recovered since previous evening, taking the tally of recovered patients in the state to 77,39,816. The recovery rate in the state is 98.02 per cent.

    As many as 35,694 tests were conducted since previous evening, which raised the tally of coronavirus tests conducted so far to 8,11,12,952. Maharashtra’s coronavirus figures: New cases: 1,881, New Deaths: zero, Active cases 8,432; New Tests 35, 694.

  • Surge in Covid cases localised, government studying impact of BA.4, BA.5

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: India is seeing a fresh surge in Covid-19 cases in some states – mainly Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Karnataka – but the spike seems to be localised. 

    According to Dr N K Arora, who heads the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group of Immunisation (NTAGI), the people who were not tested positive during the third wave propelled by the Omicron variant, are now getting the infection.

    “The spike looks more like a localised spread that was seen earlier in Delhi in April. Most people getting infected now are over-protected, living in a high-rise, and are relatively better-off,” he told TNIE. He said even children testing positive for Covid-19 belong to high-end better-off schools.

    “People who were relatively well-protected during the third wave are now getting Covid,” he added. He said a similar spike in Covid numbers was seen in Delhi and the NCR region in April when schools opened, and restrictions were lifted. “We can’t say that there is a wave,” he added.

    According to the Union Health Ministry data, India on Monday logged 4,518 new coronavirus infections and nine deaths. The nine deaths were reported from Kerala (4), Uttar Pradesh (2) and one each from Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal.

    As Covid cases saw a surge in some states, the Centre sent a letter to five states – Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu – and advised them to follow a five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination and follow appropriate Covid-19 behaviour.

    The Union Health Ministry has said that these states are “reporting a higher contribution to India’s cases.”

    Officials said that as INSACOG in its report had detected BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Covid-19 in India, they are studying whether the virus spread in some of the states is due to these two variants.

    The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), in its report, confirmed the presence of Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. Tamil Nadu has already detected BA.4, and BA.5 variants in 12 samples sent for genome sequencing out of 150.

    They are also studying whether the two variants are causing severe symptoms and hospitalisation to the infected person. So far, most of the people detected with these two variants have recovered and showed mild symptoms. Also, it has been found that those infected in recent weeks were all vaccinated. 

  • IISc researchers provide alternative mechanism to render viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive

    By PTI

    BENGALURU: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science have developed a new approach that provides an alternative mechanism to render viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive, according to IISc.

    In a study published in ‘Nature Chemical Biology, the researchers report the design of a new class of artificial peptides or mini proteins that can not only block virus entry into our cells but also clump virions (virus particles) together, reducing their ability to infect.

    A protein-protein interaction is often like that of a lock and a key, the Bengaluru-based IISc noted in a statement.

    This interaction can be hampered by a lab-made mini protein that mimics, competes with, and prevents the ‘key’ from binding to the ‘lock’, or vice versa.

    In the new study, the team has exploited this approach to design mini proteins that can bind to, and block the spike protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

    This binding was further characterized extensively by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and other biophysical methods.

    These mini proteins are helical, hairpin-shaped peptides, each capable of pairing up with another of its kind, forming what is known as a dimer.

    Each dimeric ‘bundle’ presents two ‘faces’ to interact with two target molecules.

    The researchers hypothesized that the two faces would bind to two separate target proteins, locking all four in a complex and blocking the targets’ action.

    “But we needed proof of principle,” says Associate Professor in the Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU), IISc, and the lead author of the study, Jayanta Chatterjee.

    The team decided to test their hypothesis by using one of the mini proteins called SIH-5 to target the interaction between the Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 protein in human cells.

    The S protein is a trimer, a complex of three identical polypeptides.

    Each polypeptide contains a Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) that binds to the ACE2 receptor on the host cell surface.

    This interaction facilitates viral entry into the cell.

    The SIH-5 mini protein was designed to block the binding of the RBD to human ACE2.

    When a SIH-5 dimer encountered an S protein, one of its faces bound tightly to one of the three RBDs on the S protein trimer, and the other face bound to an RBD from a different S protein.

    This ‘cross-linking’ allowed the mini protein to block both S proteins at the same time, the statement said.

    “Several monomers can block their targets,” says Chatterjee.

    “(But) cross-linking of S proteins blocks their action many times more effectively. This is called the avidity effect.”

    Under cryo-EM, the S proteins targeted by SIH-5 appeared to be attached head-to-head.

    “We expected to see a complex of one spike trimer with SIH-5 peptides. But I saw a structure that was much more elongated,” says Assistant Professor at MBU and one of the corresponding authors, Somnath Dutta.

    Dutta and the others realised that the spike proteins were being forced to form dimers and clumped into complexes with the mini protein.

    This type of clumping can simultaneously inactivate multiple spike proteins of the same virus and even multiple virus particles.

    “I have worked with antibodies raised against the spike protein before and observed them under a cryo-EM. But they never created dimers of the spikes,” says Dutta.

    The mini protein was also found to be thermostable, it can be stored for months at room temperature without deteriorating.

    The next step was to ask if SIH-5 would be useful for preventing COVID-19 infection.

    To answer this, the team first tested the mini protein for toxicity in mammalian cells in the lab and found it to be safe.

    Next, in experiments carried out in the lab of Raghavan Varadarajan, a Professor at MBU, hamsters were dosed with the mini protein, followed by exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

    These animals showed no weight loss and had greatly decreased viral load as well as much less cell damage in the lungs, compared to hamsters exposed only to the virus.

    The researchers believe that with minor modifications and peptide engineering, this lab-made mini protein could inhibit other protein-protein interactions as well.

  • Govt clears Corbevax as Covid booster shot for adults, can be clubbed with other jabs

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: Hyderabad-based Pharmaceuticals firm Biological E Ltd (BE) on Saturday announced that its Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax has been cleared by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) as a heterologous Covid-19 booster for 18 plus population after their primary vaccination with two doses of Covishield and Covaxin.

    With this, Biological E Limited’s Corbevax has become the first Covid-19 vaccine in India to be approved by the DCGI as a heterologous Covid-19 booster dose.

    ALSO READ: India reports 3962 new Covid cases, 26 fatalities 

    The Corbevax booster can be given six months after administration of the second dose of the vaccine. The adults fully vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin can take Corbevax as their third or booster dose.

    WATCH |

    “BE has furnished clinical trials data to the DGCI who after a detailed evaluation and deliberation with Subject Experts Committee, granted their approval for administering Corbevax vaccine as a heterologous booster dose”, said vaccine manufacturer in a statement.

    ALSO READ: Centre writes to five states over rise in COVID cases, weekly positivity rates

    “We are very happy with this approval, which will address the need for Covid-19 booster doses in India. We have crossed yet another milestone in our Covid-19 vaccination journey. This approval reflects once again the sustained world class safety standards and high immunogenicity of Corbevax,” Mahima Datla, Managing Director of Biological E Ltd, said.

  • 2,745 new COVID cases in India; active infections rise to 18,386

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: With 2,745 new coronavirus infections being recorded in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,31,60,832, while the active cases increased to 18,386, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

    The death toll climbed to 5,24,636 with six fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

    The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was 98.74 per cent, the ministry said.

    An increase of 503 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

    The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.60 per cent and weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 0.63 per cent, according to the health ministry.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,26,17,810, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent.

    The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 193.57 crore.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.

    The six new fatalities include two from Kerala and one each from Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

    A total of 5,24,636 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,47,860 from Maharashtra, 69,742 from Kerala, 40,107 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,210 from Delhi, 23,520 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,204 from West Bengal.

    The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • India records 2,338 Covid cases, 19 deaths; active infections rise to 17,883

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India recorded 2,338 new Covid infections in a day that took its case tally to 4,31,58,087 while the number of active cases rose to 17,883, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

    The death toll climbed to 5,24,630 with 19 more people succumbing to the viral disease, the data updated at 8 am stated.

    According to the ministry, active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate was 98.74 per cent.

    India’s active caseload increased by 185 in 24 hours.

    The daily positivity rate was 0.64 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.61 per cent, the data showed.

    A total of 85.04 crore tests to detect COVID-19 have been conducted so far of which 3,63,883 were carried out in the last 24 hours.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,26,15,574, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent.

    The total number of vaccine doses administered in the country so far has exceeded 193.45 crore.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore COVID-19 cases on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.

  • Goverment to release benefits under PM CARES for Children tomorrow 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release benefits under the ‘PM CARES for Children’ on Monday via video-conferencing, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said on Sunday.

    The government had launched the initiative on May 29 last year to support children who lost parents, legal guardian, adoptive parents or surviving parent to COVID-19 from March 11, 2020, to February 28, 2022.

    In a statement, the ministry said the prime minister will transfer scholarships to school-going children. A PM CARES for Children passbook and health card under Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana will also be handed over to them, it added.

    The children, along with their guardians and the district magistrate concerned, will join the event through virtual mode. The event will be attended by ministers, MPs and MLAs of the respective states and union territories, it said.

    The objective of the scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children in a sustained manner by providing them boarding and lodging, empowering them through education and scholarships, equipping them for self-sufficient existence with financial support of Rs 10 lakh on attaining 23 years of age and ensuring their well-being through health insurance.

    The portal “http://pmcaresforchildren.in/” is a single window system that facilitates approval process and all other assistance for children under the scheme.

  • Sharp spike in missing children cases due to Covid impact: NGOs call for increased sensitisation, vigilance

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Child rights NGOs have flagged a sharp rise in the number of children who have gone missing in the last two years due to the social impact of COVID-19.

    In order to prevent the situation for worsening, the organisations have called for the immediate strengthening of child protection committees at the village level, sensitising and training parents, and urged the government to make adequate budget allocation in this connection.

    As per the latest figures of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 59,262 children went missing in India in 2020.

    With 48,972 children remaining untraced from the previous years, the total number of missing children has gone up to 1,08,234.

    There is almost a 13 times rise in the number of cases of missing children reported annually between 2008 and 2020, the NCRB said. As per the data, 7,650 cases of missing children were reported in 2008.

    In the last two years, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), Kailash Satyarthi Foundation’s sister organisation alone has rescued around 12,000 children from across the country Dhananjay Tingal, its executive director, said.

    “This is ample proof to show that after the pandemic, child trafficking has increased manifold,” he told PTI. On average, 29 children in Madhya Pradesh and 14 in Rajasthan went missing every day in 2021, according to a new report by NGO Child Rights and You (CRY), which gathered the information through RTIs.

    Tingal said some children were being trafficked with the consent of their parents, while few others voluntarily went with the traffickers. “Ultimately, a large majority of these children went missing,” he said.

    He urged employees of railways, roadways and others to immediately intervene if they come across any unaccompanied child or a child who is begging in public transport systems.

    “Subsequently, such children must be brought under the umbrella of the government’s safety net,” he said.

    Prabhat Kumar, deputy director, Child Protection, Save the Children, said increased poverty has become an overarching reason for children to go missing or become victims of trafficking.

    He said the situation has worsened due to no schooling or lack of continuity in learning activities due to COVID-19-enforced lockdown and restrictions.

    Soha Moitra, regional director (North), CRY, said many families in rural areas were already in debt, and the economic burden due to the pandemic increased further.

    The pressure of paying back loans contributed to the trafficking of children of such families, for labour and marriage. She said mandatory use of face masks often made it difficult to identify traffickers and kidnappers.

    “The government departments concerned in collaboration with the local administrative bodies and civil society organisations should come forward to create regular awareness on the importance of education of children with constructive activities,” Moitra said.

    In 2020, despite the complete nationwide lockdown for nearly four months, March to June, 59,262 children (13,566 boys, 45,687 girls, nine transgender children) were reported missing.

    The share of missing girl children has increased from about 70 per cent in 2018 to 71 per cent in 2019, and further to 77 per cent in 2020, according to NCRB data.

    On the other hand, the share of untraced children from the previous years accounted for about 42 per cent in 2018, 39 per cent in 2019, and 45 per cent in 2020 of the total missing children.

  • Maharashtra, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh record highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 2020

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Maharashtra, followed by Manipur and Uttar Pradesh, have recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 2020, when 1.6 lakh people succumbed to the virus in the country. In 2020, the total number of registered deaths in the country was 81,15,882 of which 18,11,688 were medically certified deaths.

    According to the ‘Report on Medical Certification of Cause of Death 2020’, the highest deaths (29.4 per cent) due to the COVID-19 was reported for the age group 70 years or above followed by 55-64 years (23.9 per cent).

    As per recommendation of Indian Council of Medical Research, codes for covering deaths due to COVID-19 has first time recorded as a separate major cause group. Deaths reported due to COVID-19 has contribution of 8.9 per cent in total medically certified deaths.

    There were 1,60,618 COVID-19 deaths in 2020 of which 1,14,217 were male and 46,401 were female. As per the registered medically certified deaths in 2020, Maharashtra has recorded the highest percentage of medically certified covid deaths with 17.7 per cent followed by Manipur (15.7 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (15.0 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (13.5 per cent), Uttarakhand (12.8 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (12.0 per cent), Punjab (11.9 per cent) and Delhi (10.8 per cent).

    The report did not provide the actual number of COVID-19 deaths, state and Union Territory-wise. No medically certified COVID-19 death has been registered in Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep during 2020.

    According to the Union Health Ministry, as on Thursday, a total of 5,24,525 covid deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,47,857 from Maharashtra, 69,643 from Kerala, 40,106 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,207 from Delhi, 23,519 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,203 from West Bengal.

    The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. As shown in the RGI data, the highest deaths (29.4 per cent) was reported for the age group 70 years or above followed by 55-64 years (23.9 per cent).

    The age group 65-69, having class interval of only 5 years have also reported significant number of deaths (14.5 per cent). The percentage of female deaths aged 34 years and below as well as for 55-64 years and 65-69 years, to total female deaths are on a higher side compared to corresponding figures for male.

    So far, 4,31,44,820 people were infected by coronavirus in India.

  • ‘COVID-19 hasn’t gone away’: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray asks people to wear masks

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday appealed to the people of the state not to lower their guard against COVID-19 in view of the rise in cases, and said they should continue to wear face masks to prevent the spread of infection.

    Although the number of hospitalisation (on account of coronavirus) is low, everyone should be alert and cautious as the virus has not gone away completely as yet, he said. A statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that Thackeray made the appeal to the people during the weekly meeting of the state cabinet here.

    On Wednesday, Maharashtra reported 470 coronavirus positive cases, the highest daily count since March 5. Of these, Mumbai recorded 295 cases, the highest single-day rise since February 12. The statement said that Mumbai has reported 52.79 per cent rise in COVID-19 cases, while it was 68.75 per cent in Palghar district, 27.92 per cent in Thane district and 18.52 per cent in Raigad.

    The chief minister observed that the state’s weekly coronavirus positivity rate is 1.59 per cent with Mumbai and Pune reporting more positivity than the state’s average. At present only one COVID-19 patient is on ventilator, while 18 patients are on oxygen support, Thackeray said in the statement.

    “Mask and vaccination is necessary. At present 92.27 per cent people above the age of 18 have got the first dose of vaccination and the health department has been asked to expedite the process further,” he said.