It picked up slightly to post a fall of 79.5 per cent in Q2 and that of 64.3 per cent in Q3. A significant number of jobs were lost in the tourism sector once the lockdown was implemented.
Tag: Pandemic
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Covid vaccination for children likely to start soon: Mandaviya tells BJP MPs
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday told BJP MPs that Covid vaccination for children is likely to start soon, sources said.During the BJP parliamentary party meeting, Mandaviya said that the Covid vaccination drive is going on in full swing in the country. Currently, only those who are 18 or above are eligible for vaccination against the coronavirus.
Very soon a vaccine is expected for children and inoculation for them will start, the sources quoted the minister as telling the MPs.
The government had earlier said that Covid vaccination of children in the 12-18 age group may start by the end of July or in August.
“Trial for the Zydus Cadila vaccine is almost complete. By July-end or in August, we might be able to start administering this vaccine to children of 12-18 age group,” Dr N K Arora, chairman of the COVID-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), had said recently.
The government had also informed the Supreme Court recently that the vaccine developed by Zydus Cadila will be available soon for children who are 12 and above subject to statutory permissions.
Zydus Cadila is likely to soon apply to the Drugs Controller General of India for emergency use authorisation for its vaccine ZyCoV-D, which it claims can be given to both adults and children.
Earlier, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria had told PTI that making vaccine available for children will be a milestone achievement and pave the way for reopening of schools and resumption of outdoor activities.
He had said the data of phase two and three trial of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin on two to 18 years age group is expected by September.
The vaccine can be available for children in India around that time following approval from the drug regulator, he had said.
“If the Pfizer vaccine gets approval before that, then it can also be an option for children,” Dr Guleria had said” If the Zydus vaccine gets approval, it will be another option,” Guleria had said.
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Mumbai sees 5 COVID-19 deaths, lowest since March 16
By PTI
MUMBAI: Mumbai on Tuesday reported five deaths from COVID-19, the lowest addition in a day to the toll after March 16, the silver lining in the fight against the pandemic coming a day after the country’s financial capital witnessed the lowest number of cases after April last year.The COVID-19 tally in Mumbai increased by 343 on Tuesday to touch 7,34,761 and the toll rose by five to touch 15,789, a civic official said. He said 466 people were discharged during the day, taking the recovery count in Mumbai to 7,11,315.
With 28,058 samples being examined in the last 24 hours, the number of tests in Mumbai went up to 80,18,377.
On Monday, the city had seen 299 cases, the lowest daily addition since April last year, while a lower fatality count than Tuesday was recorded on March 16 when four people succumbed to the infection, he pointed out.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation data also showed that Tuesday was the 12th day in a row when the addition to the tally was less than 500.
As per the data, the growth rate of cases between July 20 and 26 was 0.05 per cent and the case doubling time was 1,377 days. The metropolis currently has 65 sealed buildings and five containment zones, it showed.
This year, Mumbai had reported a record 11,163 daily cases on April 4, while the lowest number of additions, at 328, was on February 1, civic data showed. On May 1, the city had witnessed a record 90 deaths.
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Maharashtra sees 4,877 new COVID-19 cases, lowest after February 17; 11,077 recover
By PTI
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Monday reported 4,877 fresh coronavirus positive cases, the lowest single-day spike after February 17 this year, and 53 fatalities, lowest in the last two weeks.The new additions raised the tally of cases to 62,69,799 in the state and the toll to 1,31,605, the health department said. Maharashtra had reported 4,787 infections on February 17. Among the 53 deaths reported in the eight administrative regions in Maharashtra, the Kolhapur region reported the highest 22 fatalities in the last 24 hours, a health official said.
At 4,877, the cases dipped significantly on Monday compared with Sunday when 6,843 infections were reported while the number of fatalities also came down as against 123 recorded on the previous day.
With 11,077 patients being discharged after treatment during the day, the count of recoveries in Maharashtra went up to 60,46,106 so far, leaving the state with 88,729 active cases, a health department official said.
Currently, 5,01,758 people are in home quarantine in Maharashtra and 3,518 people are in institutional quarantine, the official said, adding the state’s case recovery rate now stands at 96.43 per cent while the fatality rate is 2.09 per cent.
With 1,48,138 new tests, the total number of samples tested so far in Maharashtra rose to 4,69,95,122, he said.
Notably, Akola, Nandurbar, Wardha, Bhandara and Godia districts, along with Chandrapur and Wardha municipal corporations did not report any fresh coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours.
Mumbai saw 297 fresh cases in the last 24 hours and eight fatalities, taking the tally to 7,34,415 and the toll to 15,845.
Mumbai region comprising Mumbai city saw 920 new cases and 16 fatalities, which raised the overall caseload to 16,35,553 and the fatality count to 34,105, the official said.
With 153 new cases, the tally of infections in Pune city municipal limits mounted to 5,02,536.
The death toll remained unchanged at 8,869 with no fresh fatality being reported in the city, the department said.
Pune region reported 1,637 fresh cases during the day and nine deaths, raising the tally to 14,82,874 and the toll to 28,327, the official said.
Kolhapur region reported 1,316 new cases, Nashik 680, Latur 246, Nagpur 13, Akola 19 and Aurangabad 46. Coronavirus figures for Maharashtra: Total cases 62,69,799, new cases 4,877, total deaths 1,31,605, fresh deaths 53, total recoveries 60,46,106, active cases 88,729, new tests conducted 1,48,138.
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Assam reports 1,528 new COVID-19 cases, 26 fresh fatalities
By PTI
GUWAHATI: Assam’s COVID-19 tally rose to 5,60, 019 on Monday as 1,528 people tested positive for the infection, while 26 fresh fatalities pushed the state’s coronavirus death toll to 5,162, a bulletin issued by the National Health Mission said.Kamrup Metropolitan district reported the highest number of new cases at 199, followed by Golaghat (131), Lakhimpur (91) and Kamrup (Rural) -88.
Five fresh COVID-19 fatalities were reported each from Jorhat and Sivasagar districts, four from Kamrup (Rural), and two each from Goalpara, Sonitpur, and Tinsukia.
Cachar, Golaghat, Kamrup Metropolitan, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, and Nalbari reported one death each.
The current death rate is 0.92 per cent and the number of COVID-19 positive patients dying due to other causes is 1,347. The number of active COVID-19 positive cases in the state is 13,582.
Assam has thus far tested 1,80,15,182 samples for COVID-19, including 1,66,846 during the day.
Meanwhile, a total of 5,39, 928 patients have recovered from the infection, including 1,830 on Monday. The overall recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is 96.41 per cent, the bulletin said.
As many as 99,67,326 people have been inoculated in the state, of whom 17,79,595 have received both doses.
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98 per cent of defence personnel received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine: Government
To a separate question, Bhatt said the government is fully seized of the security needs of the country and reviews the same from time to time.
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Over 44 crore vaccine doses administered in India so far: Health Ministry
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 44 crore, the Union health ministry said on Monday.In another significant achievement, Maharashtra on Monday became the first state to inoculate more than 1 crore people with both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, it said.
The ministry said that 57,48,692 vaccine doses have been administered on Monday, according to the 7 pm provisional report.
It said 7,20,900 vaccine doses were administered as first dose and 3,49,496 doses as second in the age group 18-44 years on Monday.
Cumulatively, 14,19,55,995 persons in the age group 18-44 years across the country have received their first dose and 65,72,678 their second dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive.
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than 1 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the age group 18-44 years.
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have vaccinated more than 10 lakh beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years for the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the ministry said.
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Scientists from India, Russia, Brazil, South Africa will collaborate on Covid research
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Scientists from India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa will collaborate on research that will help develop or repurpose drugs against COVID-19.According to an official statement on Monday, the collaborative effort involving experts from bioinformatics, organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, drug screening and parasitologists would be of great value for the search of new efficient drugs against COVID-19.
The consolidation of efforts, knowledge and experience of scientists and specialists from different areas will lead to the optimisation of the health system and health care in BRICS countries, the Department of Science and Technology said in the statement.
“Scientists from India, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa will work together to repurpose, validate and synthesise lead compounds against main protease and RNA replicas, the enzyme that catalyses the replication of RNA, of SARS-CoV-2,” it said.
The approach which could inhibit both maturation and propagation of viruses during the infection in the host cells can help produce new COVID-19 medicines with improved production methods.
The area of multi-stage targeted inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 has emerged a few months back after the WHO announced COVID-19 as global emergency.
The multi-stage process involves viral genome replication, transcription and maturation. These are regulated by the enzymes protease and RNA replicase.
“Inhibiting these effects would be crucial to complete the dream of millions of people on this earth to develop/repurpose a drug molecule against COVID-19,” it said.
The scientists will also conduct biochemical assays, including cytotoxicity lead compounds against main protease and RNA dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2, and conduct target validation of lead compounds through molecular dynamics simulation and biochemical methods, it added.
While efforts have been made to selectively inhibit a single target enzyme of SARS-CoV-2, effective potential inhibitors against both replication and maturation machinery of SARS-CoV-2 is yet to be found.
The Department of Science and Technology will be supporting this research which brings multiple expertise from the several BRICS countries to bring a solution to the COVID-19 crisis that the world is combatting at present.
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Madhya Pradesh sees 12 additions to COVID-19 tally, active cases now 148
By PTI
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh on Sunday added 12 COVID-19 cases to its tally, which reached 7,91,750, while the toll remained unchanged at 10,512 as no death was reported during the day, an official said.The recovery count stands at 7,81,090, leaving the leaving the state with 148 active cases, he said.
With 72,360 samples being examined during the day, the number of tests in MP went up to 1,39,99,557, he added.
An official release said 2,78,67,459 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, including 4,628 on Sunday.
Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 7,91,750, new cases 12, death toll 10,512 (no change), recovered 7,81,090, active cases 148, number of tests so far 1,39,99,557.
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Only 13 per cent of hospitalized patients got PM-JAY: Analysis
Express News Service
Only 6.05 lakh people out of 50 crore eligible people covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, availed the benefit of the Ayushamn Bharat health insurance scheme for COVID-19 until June 30, 2021.This means, out of an estimated 45,50,000 people who were hospitalized for COVID treatment in public or private hospitals, only 13 percent got the insurance, indicating poor execution of the program by the government.
Though there is no official data available on statewide hospitalization of COVID-19 patients, based on mathematical modelling, data available in some state COVID dashboards and media reports, the analysis concluded that on average 15 per cent of the COVID-19 patients were isolated in hospitals.
38 per cent of the people (17.3 lakh) self-financed or borrowed their way through, while 49 per cent (22.2 lakh) relied on other health insurance schemes. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were the best states when it came to effective implementation of PM-JAY, as per an analysis by Jeevan Raksha, an initiative of Proxima Consulting.
“There is no trace of PM-JAY scheme in some states such as Punjab and Gujarat, where not even a single person reaped the benefit of the scheme. In Assam (619), Bihar (19), and Uttar Pradesh (875) collectively only 1513 PM-JAY beneficiaries have got treatment for COVID 19. There was no trace of effective implementation in North-Eastern state and union territories,” the analysis read.
“80 per cent of the PM-JAY beneficiaries were from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh added additional families into the PM-JAY scheme beyond those families who are part of the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC). In both the states, 38 per cent and 55 per cent of the patients were covered by government insurance. This demonstrates effective implementation. However, the majority of people in other state and union territories faced the brunt and spent from their own pocket,” Mysore Sanjeev, convenor, Jeevan Raksha.
In Maharashtra, 18 per cent of the hospitalizations were covered by the scheme. As per the analysis, in North-Eastern states, around 43,000 people could have been hospitalized for treatment but only around 2000 people got PM-JAY cover, while in Tamil Nadu, which is among the states severely affected by COVID-19, 3.71 lakh people could have been hospitalized but only 10,377 got this insurance.
Although Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have covered 43.8 lakh, 74.9 lakh, 1.16 crore, 1.08 crore families under Ayushman Bharat on paper, the number of people who received the insurance, in reality, was 0, 10,377, 875 and 19 respectively. Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana also saw a poor impact of the scheme.