For first time ever, Covid-19 growth rate below 1%
The nearly month-long declining trend in detection of new infections has ensured that, for the first time since the epidemic started in India, the growth rate of coronavirus cases has dropped below one per cent a day. The seven-day compounded daily growth rate, for the country as a whole, fell to 0.99 per cent on Tuesday.
At its height, growth rate of coronavirus cases had exceeded 7 per cent per day in the first week of May, but there has been a steady decline after that. This process has been expedited in the last one month which has seen a considerable decline in the daily numbers, from a high of about 98,000 cases to less than 70,000 cases right now.
The three Covid-19 trials that hit a bump
The quest in finding a fast and effective treatment for Covid-19 suffered twin setbacks in a span of 24 hours after two major American drugmakers — Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly and Company — announced they were halting late-stage clinical trials over safety concerns. This comes a month after AstraZeneca briefly halted its trial.
However, experts have said it was not uncommon to pause drug trials to investigate safety concerns, and such actions do not necessarily indicate a serious problem.
A four-day work week? Why this model is gaining ground
Several world leaders and trade unions, too, have proposed a four-day week to help secure jobs. In August this year, Germany’s largest trade union IG Metall pushed for a four-day working week to prevent mass layoffs and salary cuts. Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev are among the many world leaders pushing for a shift to a four-day working week.
Compressed work schedules have been the subject of many studies, which have pointed out a significant increase in both productivity and work-life balance.
There may be no traditional garba events this year to prevent crowding and the spread of COVID-19, but a group of Surat students came up with festive PPE suits for the festive occasion. Students came up with protective gear that had accessories like traditional belts and dupattas for their unique performance. Watch the video here.
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Over six months after Mumbai’s suburban train services were curtailed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Maharashtra government Friday decided to resume the local train services for women starting Saturday (October 17).
Women will now be allowed to access train services between 11 am to 3 pm and from 7 pm till the last service. While women have been permitted a limited duration, local train services to all essential service providers shall continue to be available for the entire day.
What kind of seasonality has the novel coronavirus shown so far? Why is winter generally associated with a spike in viral infections? What have the coronavirus trends been like in other countries? Should India be worried? We Explain here.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad Friday tested positive for Covid-19. He is under home quarantine.
For the first time since the pandemic began, the hilltop shrine at Sabarimala in Kerala will open its doors to pilgrims Friday evening for the five-day prayers in the Malayalam month of Thulam.
The state government and the Travancore Devaswom Board, that administers the shrine, has strengthened safety arrangements to manage pilgrim crowds at a time when Kerala is experiencing a major spike in infections. More details here.
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) Solidarity Trial’s pre-print findings on repurposed antivirals have said that remdesivir is ineffective in reducing Covid-19 deaths. Gilead Sciences, the American biopharmaceutical company that has developed and patented remdesivir, has hit back at the findings, which could also impact India.
‘Repurposing’, or ‘repositioning’, of drugs implies an attempt to put ‘old’ drugs that are already licensed, to new therapeutic uses.
The Solidarity Trial is a global human trial launched by WHO and its partners earlier this year in a bid to help find an “effective” treatment for Covid-19. The findings made public late on Thursday were a result of mortality trials of four re-purposed antiviral drugs — remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir and interferon.
Three destructive typhoons, U.S.-backed sanctions and the global pandemic are fuelling concern that North Korea’s 26 million people could slip back into the devastating food shortages the country faced during the rule of Kim Jong Un’s father in the 1990s.
Kim said the country is under “an intensive struggle” to recover from the floods and typhoons, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim has been shown repeatedly exhorting officials to minimize the damage to crops and boost yields.
“How many people have endured and struggled with the difficult environment this year?” Kim said, appearing to cry in his speech during a massive military parade on Oct. 10. “The patriotic devotion of our People’s Army soldiers on the quarantine front and in natural disaster recovery front cannot be treated without tears of gratitude.”
One of China's leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates, called BBIBP-CorV, was shown to be safe and elicited immune response in a small early-phase human trial, researchers said on Friday. A previous clinical trial reported similar results for a different vaccine that is also based on inactivated whole SARS-CoV-2 virus, but in that study the vaccine was only tested in people aged under 60 years. The latest study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, included participants aged between 18 and 80 years, and found that antibody responses were induced in all recipients. Participants aged 60 and over were slower to respond, taking 42 days before antibodies were detected in all recipients compared with 28 days for participants aged 18-59, the researchers said. Antibody levels were also lower in those aged 60-80 years compared with those aged 18-59, they said.
It is around four that Ashapmai Dellang and Behelti Ama visit Jackson Pul every evening. In the musician’s tin-roofed one-roomed wooden home, a space between the bedroom and the kitchen is cleared, the harmonium is brought out, and the singing begins. And then, notes of a Carnatic song fill the room, and beyond into the quiet outskirts of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tezu town.
They do not have a shruti box, the acoustics may not be ideal and the electricity goes off often. But these practice sessions, which began in earnest in early October, are hard-earned. “When it comes to learning music, you need to be in a group, you need to discuss, you need to get feedback,” says Dellang, who hails from Medo village under Wakro circle in Lohit district.'
Till last month, the 18-year-old student of Chennai-based Kalakshetra Foundation was literally running around her village, 20 km from Tezu, in the hope of finding “more than one [network] stick” to attend her online music lesson. A Class 12 humanities student, classical music is Dellang’s main subject, something the daughter of a farmer says she wanted to “make a career” in. Read more here
Bengaluru has been growing at a very fast rate in the last two weeks. On three occasions during this period, the city reported more than 5,000 cases in a day. Delhi has never crossed even 4,500 mark. Bengaluru has been driving the rise of Karnataka which is the second fastest growing state in the country right now, after Kerala. On several occasions in the last three weeks, Karnataka has reported more than 10,000 cases a day.
With more than 2.97 lakh cases, Bengaluru is all set to hit the three-lakh figure on Friday. On Thursday, it reported almost 3,800 cases while a day before that more than 4,500 new cases were found in the city. At this rate, Bengaluru has the potential to even overtake Pune and Delhi in a couple of weeks. It has been steadily closing the gap with these two cities in the last couple of weeks.
With its daily case count beginning to rise again, Delhi has regained the number one position amongst cities with the maximum number of coronavirus cases in the country.
On Thursday, Delhi recorded almost 3,500 new cases to take its total number of infected people so far 3.21 lakh. In the process, it overtook Pune, which had been carrying the maximum burden of infected people for the last one and half months.
After reporting more than 5,000 cases a day on a few occasions in late August and early September, Pune has seen its daily numbers come down steadily in the last on month. For the last three days, it has been reporting less than 1,500 new cases a day.
A day after reporting record Covid-19 deaths, West Bengal on Thursday again registered the highest single-day spike in cases as 3,720 infections pushed up the case count to 3,09,417. The toll rose to 5,870 following 62 fatalities.
The massive increase in daily cases over the last week and a half has dented the discharge rate, which fell to 87.77 per cent despite the recovery of 3,179 patients. The active caseload swelled to 31,984, just four days after crossing 30,000.
A bulk of the new cases, 58.54 per cent, and 45 deaths were recorded in the South Bengal infection hotspot comprising Kolkata and four nearby districts. Of the lot, the situation is the worst in Kolkata, where the active caseload crossed 7,000 on Thursday to settle at 7,106.
The health condition of legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee improved a lot on Friday morning following which doctors have removed him from the BiPAP and put on the nasal mask.
The 85-year-old thespians oxygen saturation has also improved while his sodium and potassium have been both corrected, doctors, treating him at the city-based private hospital, said.
“Mr Chatterjee has slept well last night. His restlessness has also improved. He was on BiPAP in the night but now (in the morning) put on nasal mask. His oxygen saturation is normal and both Sodium and Potassium levels have been corrected. This is a very good sign,” Dr Arindam Kar, leading the team of 15 doctors, treating the veteran actor, said.
Singer Kumar Sanu has tested positive for coronavirus. The singer’s team took to his Facebook page to inform fans and followers about the COVID-19 diagnosis. The post on the page read, “Unfortunately Sanuda has tested Corona positive, please pray for his good health. Thank you.”
In a chat with Bombay Times, Sanu had recently revealed that he was planning to fly to the US to spend time with his wife Saloni. He had said, “I have been eagerly waiting to be with my wife Saloni, daughter Shannon and Annabel for a long time and now finally, I will be spending my birthday, October 20, with them.”
Former Tamil Nadu MLA and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer P Vetrivel Thursday passed away due to Covid-19 at a private hospital in Chennai. Vetrivel was admitted to the hospital on October 6 and was later shifted to the Intensive Care Unit on October 9. In the past few days, his health had deteriorated and he was on ventilator support. According to the hospital, Vetrivel passed away at 18:40 due to septicemia.
AMMK said party flags will fly at half-mast and all activities have been suspended for a week as a tribute to the senior leader.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the Centre on Friday over IMF’s projection that the Indian economy is set to contract by a massive 10.3 per cent this year, saying it was another “solid achievement” by the government.
Gandhi took a swipe at the government on Twitter by tagging a chart that showed IMF growth projections for 2020-21 for Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and India.
The chart showed that the Indian economy is projected to contract by a massive 10.3 per cent this year, the highest contraction among the countries mentioned.
As a renewed wave of the coronavirus sweeps across much of Europe, the reality of the disease struck a summit of European Union leaders on Thursday when one of the 27-nation bloc's top officials abandoned the meeting to go into self-imposed quarantine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen left the summit venue in Brussels shortly after the meeting began because one of her close staffers tested positive for COVID-19. "I myself have tested negative," von der Leyen, a doctor by training, tweeted. "However, as a precaution I am immediately leaving the European Council to go into self-isolation."
A Chinese drug developer is offering an experimental coronavirus vaccine to students going abroad in a strategy health experts say raises safety and ethical concerns. China National Biotech Group has two vaccine candidates out of five from Chinese developers that are in the final stages of clinical trials. They are part of a global race to develop a vaccine that, if they are successful, offers the fledgling Chinese industry the potential for prestige and worldwide sales.
CNBG's vaccine has been given to medical workers and employees of Chinese companies being sent abroad under an emergency authorization for people in high-risk categories. Now, CNBG says it will provide the vaccine for free to Chinese students who study abroad.
India reported 63,371 COVID-19 cases and 895 deaths in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on Friday. With this, the total number of infections in the country rose to 73,70,469 While the number of fatalities soared to 1,12,161. At present, India has 8,04,528 active cases, while as many as 64,53,780 people have recovered, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India continues to have one of the lowest deaths per million population globally (presently pegged at 80). Some states/UTs are performing better and reporting much lower deaths/million population than the national average: Ministry of Health
Scientists from Britain’s University of Oxford have developed a rapid Covid-19 test able to identify the coronavirus in less than five minutes, researchers said on Thursday, adding it could be used in mass testing at airports and businesses.
The university said it hoped to start product development of the testing device in early 2021 and have an approved device available six months afterwards.
The device is able to detect the coronavirus and distinguish it from other viruses with high accuracy, the researchers said in a pre-print study.
US cases of the novel coronavirus crossed 8 million on Thursday, rising by 1 million in less than a month, as another surge in cases hits the nation at the onset of cooler weather. Since the pandemic started, over 217,000 people have died in the United States.
The United States reported 60,000 new infections on Wednesday, the highest since Aug. 14, with rising cases in every region, especially the Midwest. Health experts have long warned that colder temperatures driving people inside could promote the spread of the virus.
They have not pinpointed the reason for the rise but point to fatigue with COVID-19 precautions and students returning to schools and colleges. According to a Reuters analysis, 25 states have so far set records for increases in new cases in October.
China reported 24 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for Oct. 15, compared with 10 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Friday. All of the new infections were imported, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. China reported 10 new asymptomatic patients, compared with 23 a day earlier. As of Oct. 15, mainland China had 85,646 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. The COVID-19 death toll stands at 4,634.
India is expected to have a Covid-19 vaccine in a few months and the country should be in the process of delivering it to people in the next six months, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said. He made the comments at the Annual General Meeting of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) and St. John's Ambulance.
"We are very much into the vaccine development process...in the next few months at the most we should have a vaccine and in the next six months we should be in the process of delivering the vaccine to the people of India," Harsh Vardhan was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Kerala's infection count on Thursday mounted to 3,15,929 with the addition of 7,789 fresh -19 cases, including 128 health workers, while 2.22 lakh people have so far recovered from the disease. The toll climbed to 1,089 with 23 more fatalities, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
Calling for continued vigilance and a high state of preparedness against the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday directed health authorities to scale up Covid-19 testing and sero-surveys and said the facility to get tested regularly and speedily at a low cost must be available to all at the earliest, news agency PTI reported.
Chairing a review meeting of the research and vaccine deployment ecosystem against the Covid-19 pandemic, the prime minister also underscored the need for continuous and rigorous scientific testing and validation of traditional medicine treatments.
The doubling time of the coronavirus infection has sharply improved from 25.5 days in mid-August to nearly 73 days now, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. The doubling time for Covid-19 is the number of days it takes for the count of cases to double. "India has come a long way from registering a doubling rate of 25.5 days in mid-August to now registering a doubling rate of nearly 73 days (72.8 days)," the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Scientists from Britain’s University of Oxford have developed a rapid Covid-19 test able to identify the coronavirus in less than five minutes, researchers said on Thursday, adding it could be used in mass testing at airports and businesses.
The university said it hoped to start product development of the testing device in early 2021 and have an approved device available six months afterwards.
The device is able to detect the coronavirus and distinguish it from other viruses with high accuracy, the researchers said in a pre-print study.
More than two weeks after US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump tested positive for Covid-19, the country’s first lady has opened up about her struggle with the deadly infection, describing it as a “roller coaster of symptoms” that she treated naturally with healthy food and vitamins.
In a blog post shared on the White House’s official website, titled ‘My personal experience with Covid-19’, Melania revealed that her worst fears came true when her 14-year-old son Barron tested positive within days of his parents’ diagnosis. Read the full report here.
Record daily infection figures in Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy added to fears on Thursday that Europe is running out of chances to control its latest coronavirus outbreak.
France has set a 9 pm curfew for many of its biggest cities as governments across the continent take increasingly tough action.
New infections have surged across Europe over recent weeks as the fall kicks in, prompting authorities in many places to start reimposing restrictions that were relaxed over the summer. The Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Britain are among the countries causing particular concern. (AP)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said India's priority in the pandemic should be to protect vulnerable groups, and small and medium enterprises. Managing Director of the IMD Kristalina Georgieva said, "What needs to be done? Well, clearly protecting the most vulnerable people, well-targeted support, protecting small and medium sized enterprises/firms so they do not collapse, and using what the government is now aiming to do, a further injection of support in a way that gives a better chance to turn a corner.
"Like everywhere else, until we have a durable exit from the health crisis, we will be faced with difficulties, uncertainty, and uneven recovery," she added, reported PTI.
The World Bank has said the world is experiencing one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression due to the coronavirus pandemic. World Bank president David Malpass said the pandemic was a "catastrophic event" for poorest countries. "The recession has been deep, one of the deepest since the Great Depression. And for many developing countries, and for the people in the poorest countries, it is truly a depression, a catastrophic event. It is continuing to add to the ranks of those in extreme poverty," he said, reported PTI.
A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics has found that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Covid positive mothers to babies is rare, if basic infection control practices are followed. The findings suggest it may not be warranted to go for extensive measures like separating Covid-positive mothers from their new borns and avoiding breastfeeding. Read more here
As part of our Bihar Elections 2020 special coverage, The Indian Express reports on the mammoth exercise underway in the state to create Covid-19 kits — for voters, polling personnel and security staff. There are three centres where the exercise is taking place — Patna, Muzaffarpur and Purnea. The scale of this exercise underlines the challenge in conducting an election during a pandemic. Read Dipankar Ghose's report
Records accessed by The Indian Express reveal 50 government departments have contributed Rs 157.23 crore from staff salaries to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) fund, set up following the Covid-19 outbreak. RTI records show the Indian Railways contributed the highest at Rs 146.72 crore, or 93 per cent, followed by the Department of Space with over Rs 5.18 crore. The Prime Minister’s Office, which manages the funds, has earlier decline to reveal details of contributions. Read Shyamlal Yadav's report
India detected 67,708 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 pm Thursday, taking its tally to 73,07,098. This includes 8,12,390 patients who are being treated for the disease, 63,83,442 who had recovered and 1,11,266 who succumbed.