Coronavirus India LIVE: Community transmission limited to certain districts, not happening across country, says Harsh Vardhan

Thirteen more people died from coronavirus in Punjab on Sunday as 476 fresh cases took the state's infection tally to 1,27,630.
So far, 4,012 people have died from the infection in the state, according to a medical bulletin.  The places which reported new coronavirus cases included Ludhiana (67), Hoshiarpur (64) and Jalandhar (54). There are 5,735 active COVID-19 cases in the state as of now, according to the bulletin.  A total of 958 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from infection on Sunday, taking the number of cured people to 1,17,883. Twenty-three critical patients are on ventilator while 145 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said.

Maharashtra reported a single-day rise of 9,060 coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, taking the state's COVID 19 tally to 15,95,381, the health department said. The death of 150 patients due to the pandemic pushed the toll further to 42,115, it said in a statement. As many as 11,204 patients were discharged during the day. With this, the state's recovery count went up to 13,69,810. There are 1,82,973 active cases in the state now. So far 81,39,466 people have been tested, the department said.

The streets of Paris and eight other French cities were deserted on Saturday night on the first day of the government-imposed 9 p.m. curfew that is scheduled to last for at least four weeks. The measure was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron to curb the resurgent coronavirus as new infections peaked to over 30,000 a day. Macron said the curfews were needed to stop local hospitals from becoming overrun. In France, nearly 20 million people are covered by the curfew and eerily deserted scenes were observed in Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Toulouse as well. The curfew runs until 6 a.m. daily. The country is deploying 12,000 extra police officers to enforce the new rules. Many bar and restaurant owners have bristled at the order. An earlier months-long lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus in the spring devastated the sector.

A pan-India study by the Department of Biotechnology suggests that A2a strain of SARS-CoV-2, which is the prominent novel coronavirus subtype found in the country, has not undergone any major mutation since June and there is no indication that the vaccine or diagnostics strategy would be hindered.

The DBT’s National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani (West Bengal), along with its sister organisations ––– Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneshwar, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, National Centre for Cell Sciences, Pune, Institute of Cell Sciences and Regenerative Medicine (INStem), and National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru ––– have sequenced of 1,058 genomes in the past six months.

Saumitra Das, the director of the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, said the institutes started sequencing the virus from different parts of the country from April.

One of the UK’s senior-most medical chiefs has indicated that a vaccine against COVID-19 could be ready to be deployed by the start of the New Year, according to a media report on Sunday.

Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer and one of the government’s advisers on the coronavirus pandemic, has reportedly told members of Parliament (MPs) that the vaccine created at Oxford University and being manufactured by AstraZeneca could be ready for rollout soon after Christmas in December.

In India, the vaccine has a Serum Institute of India tie-up as it undergoes trials.

Another 3,986 cases of coronavirus were added in Andhra Pradesh taking its overall tally to 7.83 lakh on Sunday. The total recoveries now increased to 7.40 lakh after 4,591 got cured in 24 hours, the latest bulletin said. Also, the state reported 23 more COVID-19 deaths, the lowest in a day in more than four months. The total toll in the state was 6,429. Kurnool reported the lowest 55 new cases, the first time for any district in the state in many months. (PTI)

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said community transmission of the coronavirus infection is restricted to certain districts in a limited number of states, clarifying that "this is not happening across the country". The minister said this during an interaction with his social media followers on the sixth episode of "Sunday Samvaad". He was responding to a question from a participant, who cited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's remark that there are instances of community transmission in her state and asked the minister which are the states that have witnessed community transmission of the disease.

"In different pockets across various states, including West Bengal, community transmission of COVID-19 is expected to occur, especially in densely-populated areas.

"However, this is not happening across the country. Community transmission is limited to certain districts, occurring in a limited number of states," Vardhan said. (PTI)

Delhi recorded 28 more fatalities, taking the COVID-19 death toll past the 6,000-mark, while 3,299 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to over 3.31 lakh on Sunday, authorities said. According to Delhi government's health bulletin, 49,414 tests were conducted. The positivity rate stands at 6.68 per cent. The number of containment zones in the city stands at 2,770. The infection tally in the national capital stands at 3,31,017, including 3,01,716 patients, who have either recovered, have migrated out or have been discharged.  The number of active cases stands at 23,292, it added. (PTI)

The Italian government has approved 40 billion euros (USD 47 billion) in new spending to counter the pandemic's economic blow.
The stimulus package announced Sunday includes an additional 1 billion euros to the national health care system, plus funds to hire doctors and nurses to fill in during the emergency and money to pay for vaccines and other necessities to treat and combat the spread of COVID-19. There is also money to extend short-term layoff schemes, to support families, to help the underdeveloped south and to make it cheaper to hire workers under 35 years of age. Premier Giuseppe Conte is expected to approve new restrictions on people's movements later Sunday, after new infections are hitting 10,000 a day.

Four inmates and nine jail staff in the three prison complexes of Delhi are presently undergoing treatment for COVID-19, officials said on Sunday.  Of the four inmates undergoing treatment, three of them were recently sent to these jails, they said.
According to data shared by officials, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi Prisons till Thursday stands at 13, including nine jail staff.

"A total of 88 inmates tested positive for COVID-19 so far. Eighty-two of them have recovered and two have died, leaving four active cases. A total of 215 prison staff contracted the infection so far. Of them, 206 have recovered and nine are still under treatment," Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said. On August 21, the Delhi Prisons Department had stated that none of the inmates in the three jail complexes of Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli are COVID-19 positive and that the coronavirus situation in jails here has improved. (PTI)

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan Sunday said negligence during Onam led to the spike in Covid-19 cases in Kerala, and other states should ‘learn a lesson’ from this.

Kerala, which had successfully flattened the infection curve by the first week of May by bringing the number of active cases below 20, has added over three lakh cases since then. With daily new infections between 7,000 and 10,000, Kerala is back on the list of top 10 states with maximum caseloads.

The Union minister, answering a question from a citizen as part of his ‘Sunday Samvaad’ programme, said, “Between January 30 and May 3, Kerala reported just 499 cases and 2 deaths. The majority of the cases were concentrated in Kasaragod and Kannur districts. Subsequently, Covid-19 cases cropped up in other districts due to increase in inter and intra-state movement of people due to trade and tourism.”

• India records 61,871 new Covid-19 cases, 1,033 deaths; total caseload at 74,94,551
• Covid-19 peaked in India; 10.6 million active cases by Feb 2021, says government panel
• Nearly 100 people fined for violating Covid-19 norms on Delhi Metro
• No mutation of coronavirus has been detected in India, says Health Minister
• Monorail services resume in Mumbai from today
• More than 39 million people infected by Covid-19 worldwide; death toll at 1.1 million
• Australia's COVID-19 hotspot Victoria partially eases lockdown
• Protest in London as Covid-19 alert level raised
• Night curfew imposed in Paris and other French cities as cases rise
• China finds active covid-19 virus on frozen food packaging

Thailand has closed all border crossings between its northern province of Tak and Myanmar after five people in the Thai border town of Mae Sot tested positive for the coronavirus. The five, none of whom exhibited symptoms, are the first locally transmitted cases confirmed in Thailand since early September, when a prison inmate tested positive.

All five are members of a family of Myanmar nationals residing in Thailand. Two were initially confirmed to be affected and added to Saturday's total of Thai cases, while three were officially added Sunday. Along with cases found among people quarantined after arriving from abroad, seven additions on Sunday brought Thailand's total number of cases to 3,686, including 59 deaths. In response to the new cases, schools in the Mae Sot area were ordered closed for seven days and only take-out service is allowed at restaurants and food stalls. Shops, malls and fresh markets remain open but must take temperature checks and enforce social distancing.

It's Friday night in Moscow, and popular bars and restaurants in the city center are packed. No one except the staff is wearing a mask or bothers to keep their distance. There is little indication at all that Russia is being swept by a resurgence of coronavirus infections. "I believe that everyone will have the disease eventually," says Dr. Alexandra Yerofeyeva, an internal medicine specialist at an insurance company, while sipping a cocktail at The Bix bar in Moscow. She adds cheerfully: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The outbreak in Russia this month is breaking the records set in the spring, when a lockdown to slow the spread of the virus was put in place. But, as governments across Europe move to reimpose restrictions to counter rising cases, authorities in Russia are resisting shutting down businesses again.

A government-appointed scientific committee on Sunday said that the Covid-19 pandemic has peaked in India and that by February 2021 — when the epidemic is expected to end — the country is likely to have 10.6 million active cases. The committee also told The Indian Express that the protective measures against the virus must continue.

The committee said that had India not imposed a lockdown in March, the virus could have claimed over 25 lakh lives in the country. The present death toll stands at 1.14 lakh.

The committee was appointed by K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India and is headed by Prof M Vidyasagar of IIT Hyderabad. The Committee was constituted to co-ordinate, amongst science agencies, scientists and regulatory bodies, and take speedy decisions on R & D to implementation related to the SARS-Cov-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease.

disease.

The virus that causes COVID-19 can survive on banknotes, glass, and stainless steel for up to 28 days, much longer than the flu virus, Australian researchers said last week, highlighting the need for frequent cleaning and handwashing. Findings from the study by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, appear to show that in a very controlled environment the virus remained infectious for longer than other studies have found.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the study built on previous experimental studies used to draw up its existing guidance on handwashing and disinfection of surfaces. 

The Delhi Police has issued 98 challans to metro passengers for violating guidelines pertaining to the Covvid-19 pandemic, PTI quoted officials as saying on Sunday.

Police personnel at metro stations have been conducting a drive to check on those violating Covid-19 guidelines. They said passengers who were not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing have been challaned.

At leats 1,903 metro trains were checked in the last four days and 98 challans were issued to passengers for violating the guidelines, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro) Jitendra Mani. (PTI)

The Delhi Police has issued 98 challans to metro passengers for violating guidelines pertaining to the Covvid-19 pandemic, PTI quoted officials as saying on Sunday.

Police personnel at metro stations have been conducting a drive to check on those violating Covid-19 guidelines. They said passengers who were not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing have been challaned.

At leats 1,903 metro trains were checked in the last four days and 98 challans were issued to passengers for violating the guidelines, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro) Jitendra Mani. (PTI)

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has kept most senior citizens indoors, an 87-year-old doctor from Mul in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district has been going out of his way to attend to his patients in remote villages.

With only his bicycle for company, Ramchandra Dandekar has been travelling barefoot for at least 10 km every day to villages in Mul, Pombhurna and Ballarshah talukas for the last 60 years, providing free doorstep treatment to people.

The current health crisis has not deterred the practitioner of Homeopathy and Ayurveda from stepping out of his home.

The ongoing pandemic seems to have hit young women aspiring to get into medical school this year harder than their male counterparts.

The Sunday Express analysed data since 2017 to find that like every year, while more girls (7,48,866) than boys (6,18,075) appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the attendance rate of girls had, for the first time in four years, fallen behind that of boys.

This year, the overall attendance rate fell from 92.85% to 85.57%, but the gender break-up shows the drop is much steeper for girls. According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), 86.25% of the registered male candidates appeared for the test, which is 6.38 percentage points lower than last year. On the other hand, 85.02% of the girls who had registered took the test this time, an 8.01 percentage point drop since 2019.

Four Covid-related deaths were reported in Mohali district on Saturday, bringing the number of fatalities to 218. Read More

As the nine-day Navratri festival began on Saturday, devotees offered prayers at various temples of the city in strict adherence to social distancing norms and wearing face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. Some of the temples prohibited offerings like flowers and 'prasad' to Goddess Durga on the occasion.

People were seen offering prayers at Jhandewalan Temple and Kalkaji Temple on the first day of Navratri. Morning 'aarti' (prayer) was also performed at the temples. However, some temple in east Delhi saw low footfall of devotees due to the coronavirus scare. (PTI)

The Kerala government has terminated from service 432 medical personnel, including 385 doctors, who were on unauthorised leave for years, Health Minister K K Shailaja said on Saturday. Despite being given several opportunities, these employees had not shown any inclination to join duty following which it was decided to dismiss them, the minister said in a press release. Directions had been issued to the health department to identify such staff who have kept away from work for years and take strict disciplinary action against them.

With 79 more jail inmates testing positive for COVID-19 in Jammu, the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) held an awareness camp at the Central Jail here on Saturday to impart knowledge to the prisoners and staff about measures to combat the disease within the premises, officials said. The camp was held at the Central Jail Kot Bhalwal, in collaboration with the Ayush (Indian System of Medicine) ministry, which distributed immunity boosters and ayurvedic medicines, specially designed to enhance human immunity to fight COVID-19, amongst the inmates, the officials said.

Seventy-nine prisoners tested positive for the disease during a special drive in Jammu's Amphalla district jail on Friday, taking the total number of active coronavirus cases on the premises to 83. Earlier, 80 prisoners and three staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 in the Amphalla jail. However, 72 prisoners and all three jail staff were cured last week, while two more patients with comorbidities turned negative on Saturday. (PTI)

The Vatican says someone who lives in the same Vatican hotel as Pope Francis has tested positive for coronavirus, adding to the 11 cases of COVID-19 among the Swiss Guards who protect him, news agency AP reported. The Vatican said Saturday that the resident of the Domus Sanctae Marthae has moved out temporarily and is in isolation, as are all the people who came into direct contact with him.

The hotel serves as a residence for Vatican-based priests as well as visiting clerics and lay people. Francis chose to live there permanently after his 2013 election, shunning the Apostolic Palace, because he said he needed to be around ordinary people. The hotel has a communal dining room and chapel where Francis celebrates Mass each morning.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said gymnasiums and fitness centres in the state will be allowed to reopen from Dussehra, which falls on October 25. During a virtual meeting with representatives of gyms and fitness centres, the chief minister said group activities like zumba and yoga and steam and sauna facilities will not be allowed. "Gymnasiums and fitness centres are for the welfare of citizens, so care should be taken to ensure that there is no virus spread. The SoPs should be strictly followed," he said. Thackeray said the state government was going slow on lifting COVID-19 restrictions because there should be no complacency. (PTI)

A class X student tested positive for COVID-19 prompting the Opposition AINRC legislator T P R Selvam, along with local people, to shut the main gate of the school in Puducherry on Saturday, demanding cancellation of classes. The school, where the infected student was studying, is located at Vadhanur village at Mannadipet which comes in the MLA's constituency. 

While speaking to reporters, Selvam said he would launch an agitation on October 19 if the school was not closed. He said Puducherry should put off re-opening schools like neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu considering the pandemic. (PTI)

At least 101 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya on Saturday, pushing the tally to 8,404, a health department official said. The death toll rose to 75 after five more people succumbed to the infection, he said. Altogether 298 patients have recovered from the disease during the day, Health Services Director Aman War said.

15 new cases of novel coronavirus reported in the Dharavi area of Mumbai on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 3,400 in the area, including 140 active cases and 2,954 discharges, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Andhra Pradesh recorded 5,529 recoveries and 3,676 new coronavirus positive cases, while 24 fatalities were reported in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday. The latest bulletin showed 7,76,251 total confirmed cases, 7,32,743 recoveries and 6,406 deaths so far. The active cases declined further to 37,102, it said. (PTI)

As the work continues to develop an effective vaccine for COVID-19, the government on Saturday said two pan-India studies on the genome of the virus in India suggest it is genetically stable and has shown no major mutation. After a review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 pandemic situation, and vaccine delivery, distribution and administration preparedness, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that three vaccines are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which two are in Phase II and one is in Phase-III.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday chaired a meeting to review the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country and suggested developing a vaccine delivery system on the lines of conduct of polls and disaster management while involving all levels of government and citizen groups, PTI reported. He also called for full preparedness to ensure speedy access to COVID-19 vaccines for every citizen.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also said that three vaccines are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which two are in Phase II and one is in Phase-III. The statement added that Indian scientists and research teams are collaborating and strengthening the research capacities in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Read more here

Tamil Nadu on Saturday reported 4,295 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus infection, taking the state's total tally to 6,83,486. With 57 fresh deaths, the death toll in the state stands at 10,586. 6,32,708 people have been discharged in the state so far, including 5,005 discharges today.

Kerala on Saturday reported 9,016 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus infection, taking the total number of active patients in the state to 96,004. The state reported 1,139 deaths in the day.

#Kerala reports 9,016 new #COVID19 cases pushing the total active patients to 96,004.

The state has recorded 1,139 deaths while 2,36,989 people have recovered from the infection.

— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2020

The health condition of West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, who has tested positive for COVID-19, improved on Saturday after his oxygen saturation levels and other parameters "stabilised", news agency PTI said quoting the doctors treating him at a private hospital. The Medinipur MP's fever subdued in the morning and he had a normal diet in the afternoon, they said. "Ghosh underwent a CT scan of the thorax today afternoon after doctors found some defects in his lungs. His overall condition has improved as his fever has gone down. "His oxygen saturation levels are normal and all his vitals are stable. He is on a normal diet," a doctor said.

The Assam government on Saturday announced re-starting regular classes in schools and colleges, from standard six onward, on a voluntary basis, from November 2. Addressing the press in Guwahati, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said classes will be held according to a staggered timetable and on separate days. Students of classes 8, 10 and 11 will have classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, whereas students of 6, 7, 9 and 12 will have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Read the report here

In a significant move towards India potentially getting a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year, the country’s top drug regulator has approved a request by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to conduct mid- to late-stage human trials for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine candidate. The Hyderabad-headquartered firm, which had entered into an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) last month to help receive approvals for the candidate in India, will now move ahead with an adaptive phase 2/3 clinical trial of the candidate here. “This will be a multi-center and randomized controlled study, which will include safety and immunogenicity study,” Dr Reddy’s told the Bombay Stock Exchange in a filing on Saturday evening. It is unclear at this stage how many participants will be enrolled in this trial and how many sites will be studying the vaccine’s safety and ability to help develop an immune response against Covid-19. Read more here

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to come together like they did in the spring to slow the spread of the coronavirus as the country posted another daily record of new cases Saturday. "Difficult months are ahead of us," she said in her weekly video podcast. "How winter will be, how our Christmas will be, that will all be decided in these coming days and weeks, and it will be decided by our behavior." 

Meanwhile, new restrictions went into effect in several other European nations in an effort to staunch the resurgence of the pandemic. In Paris and eight other French cities, restaurants, bars, movie theaters and other establishments were being forced to close no later than 9 p.m. to try to reduce contact among people. The country was deploying 12,000 extra police officers to enforce the new rules. (AP)

As part of its strict new Covid-19 lockdown strategy to control rising infection rates, the UK government has said that couples living apart in high-risk areas will no longer be able to meet indoors — a rule, which is widely being described as a “sex ban”. Couples and single people will be permitted to meet outdoors in some hotspots, but are expected to comply with social distancing norms and are strictly forbidden from touching one another, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson told The Guardian on Friday.

According to the new rules, the only way people can meet during the lockdown is if they reside together already or are part of the same ‘support bubble’. With more than half of England’s population presently living in high and very high-risk zones, many residents fear that sex may be off bounds over the next few months. But, what do the new lockdown restrictions have to do with couples? And what is a support bubble? We explain here

Bangladesh is all set to resume flights to India from October 28 under 'air bubble' arrangement, after nearly eight months the communications were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to media reports on Saturday, news agency PTI reported. Three Bangladeshi carriers -- Biman Bangladeshi Airlines, US-Bangla Airlines and Novo Air -- would initially operate 28 flights a week, while five Indian airlines -- Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Vistara and GoAir -- would operate 28 flights a week between the two countries, The Daily Star reported, quoting civil aviation and tourism ministry Senior Secretary Md Mohibul Haque. Of the three Bangladeshi carriers, Biman is scheduled to operate flights on Dhaka-Delhi and Dhaka-Kolkata routes, US-Bangla Airlines on Dhaka-Chennai and Novo Air on Dhaka-Kolkata route, the report said. The five Indian airlines are expected to operate flights on Dhaka-Delhi, Dhaka-Kolkata, Dhaka-Chennai and Dhaka-Mumbai routes.

The continuing decline in new infections of novel coronavirus has ensured that the number of active cases has now dropped below eight lakh, a level that previously existed around the end of August. On Friday, only about 62,000 new cases were detected, lowest in the last four days, while more than 70,000 people were declared to have recovered. The trend of recoveries exceeding new cases has now continued uninterrupted for the last 14 days.

More than half of this fall has happened in Maharashtra alone. The number of active cases in that state has dropped from about three lakh to less than 1.9 lakh now. Karnataka is the only other state to have more than one lakh active cases.

The Mumbai airport on Saturday started an express coronavirus infection test facility for departing and non-departing passengers. The RT-PCR test facility is functional from October 15, the airport said in a release. Initially launched for arriving international transit passengers in line with the Civil Aviation Ministry's directives, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has now further extended the availability of the test facility for passengers departing from the airport as well, the airport operator said in a release.

With schools set to reopen in Uttarakhand for classes X and XII on November 1 after a gap of more than seven months, most parents are feeling insecure as COVID-19 cases are still rising in the state. School managements have said that they are prepared to resume classes while ensuring strict adherence to COVID-19 protocol including limiting attendance in the classes to 50 per cent per day for the sake of social distancing. "While we will make sure that the SOPs are followed, I must say that the schools should not be held responsible if a student catches the virus," Chairman Doon International School D S Mann said. (PTI)

The Madras Crocodile Bank in Chennai, which is home to 17 species of crocodiles and 2,000 reptiles, is facing severe financial crunch after the nationwide lockdown triggered by the coronavirus halted the flow of the visitors to the park. Allwin Jesudasan, the director at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology, said revenue from ticket sales has been nil since mid-March 2020. The bank, which is the country’s biggest such facility, was established in 1976.   

“Pre Covid-19 times, the ticket revenues used to be 50 per cent of our total revenue. If the zoo was open during the last six months, we would have generated a crore through ticket revenue. During this period, we used to get around 30,000 visitors each month,” he said in an email. Read more here

The continuing decline in new infections of novel coronavirus has ensured that the number of active cases has now dropped below eight lakh, a level that previously existed around the end of August. On Friday, only about 62,000 new cases were detected, lowest in the last four days, while more than 70,000 people were declared to have recovered. The trend of recoveries exceeding new cases has now continued uninterrupted for the last 14 days.

Active cases had touched a peak on September 17, and there has been steady decline after that. The number has reduced by almost 2.25 lakh in this last one month. During this time, 29,800 deaths have also happened, which would account for about 13 per cent of the reduction in active cases. The remaining 87 per cent has happened because the far lesser number of people are now falling sick compared to those who are recovering. 

More than half of this fall has happened in Maharashtra alone. The number of active cases in that state has dropped from about three lakh to less than 1.9 lakh now. Karnataka is the only other state to have more than one lakh active cases.

Scientists have laid out an approach to block a protein that the novel coronavirus uses to cut and disable crucial components of the immune system and to produce copies of itself, an advance that may lead to new drygs against Covid-19, reported PTI.

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Centre at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) in the US, developed two molecules that inhibit the molecular "scissor" enzyme used by the coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2PLpro.

According to the study, published in the journal Science, the enzyme promotes infection by sensing both viral and human proteins.

"This enzyme executes a double-whammy," said senior author Shaun K. Olsen, associate professor of biochemistry and structural biology at UT Health San Antonio. "It stimulates the release of proteins that are essential for the virus to replicate, and it also inhibits molecules called cytokines and chemokines that signal the immune system to attack the infection," he added.

SARS-CoV-2-PLpro cuts human proteins ubiquitin and ISG15, which help maintain protein integrity by acting like a molecular scissor, he explained. The scientists developed the inhibitors, which are very efficient at blocking the activity of SARS-CoV-2-PLpro and do not recognise other similar proteins in human cells. (PTI)

Devotees queued up outside Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, for 'darshan' on the first day of Navratri.

Amid the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, 7000 people are being allowed to visit the shrine in a day. Their temperature is being checked and all necessary Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are being followed.Devotees queued up at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, for 'darshan' on the first day of Navratri. (Source: ANI)Amid the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, 7000 people are being allowed to visit the shrine in a day. (Source:ANI)

Devotees queued up at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, for 'darshan' on the first day of Navratri. 

Amid the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, 7000 people are being allowed to visit the shrine in a day. Their temperature is being checked & and all necessary Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are being followed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday made available interim results from the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial — a large-scale global trial studying the effectiveness of various repurposed therapies in Covid-19 treatment. The findings put a dampener on expectations from these therapies — including remdesivir, once seen as promising.

What is the Solidarity Trial?

The world’s “largest” multinational human trials on Covid-19 therapeutics, it was initiated by WHO and its partners in March to help find an effective treatment for Covid-19. It covers four repurposed drugs or drug combinations — remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon (in combination with rotinavir and lopinavir).

The study spans over 400 hospitals in more than 30 countries and looks into the effects of these treatments on various indicators, including their ability to prevent deaths and shorten hospital stays. The trial involved more than 11,300 participants.

The main aim was to help determine whether any of these repurposed therapies could at least moderately affect in-hospital mortality, and whether any effects differed between moderate and severe disease, said Dr Sheela Godbole, national coordinator of the Solidarity Trial in India. The initiative included 26 trials in parts of India with a high burden of cases. As of October 15, 937 hospitalised Covid patients were participating, Dr Godbole said.

What have the trials found?

None of the drugs was able to prove benefits across the parameters studied, especially in reducing mortality among hospitalised patients. The interim results, made available on a pre-print server, said these drugs had “little or no effect” on hospitalised Covid-19 patients “as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay.

Drugs like hyrdoxychloroquine and lopinavir, in fact, had already been dropped over the course of the last six months for not showing much promise.

ITBP organised a yoga session at Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre and Hospital, Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur, Delhi.
Over 7,000 patients have been discharged from this ITBP-run centre.

Below are some photos from the Yoga session 

Researchers from Hong Kong have reported a novel antiviral strategy for treatment of Covid-19. They have found that a class of existing drugs, which are currently used in the treatment of other infectious diseases, can suppress replication of SARS-CoV-2 and relieve Covid-19 symptoms in an animal model.

Their findings are published in Nature Microbiology.

These are metallodrugs, which consist of metal compounds. Generally, metal compounds are used as anti-microbial agents, but their antiviral activities have rarely been explored, the researchers said.

Their findings now provide a new therapeutic option for treatment of Covid-19. The researchers screened metallodrugs and related compounds including ranitidine bismuthcitrate(RBC), a commonly used anti-ulcer drug which contains the metal bismuth.

The Health Ministry Saturday said India scaled an unprecedented peak as active cases dropped below 8 lakh for the first time since September 1.

The October round of monthly sero-prevalance survey in Delhi, which had earlier got delayed, has started, PTI quoted sources as saying on Friday.

The previous survey was held from September 1-7 to better assess the COVID-19 situation here and formulate combat strategies.

The exercise was slated to begin from October 1, but got delayed as the results of the survey done last month were presented to the Delhi High Court on September 30. "This month's survey began from October 15. A total of 15,164 samples will be taken," an official source said.