Coronavirus News Highlights: Delta Plus is a variant of interest, says Niti Aayog member V K Paul

“All shops will remain open from 10 am to 7 pm. Shop owners will ensure that Covid protocol is duly followed,” an official statement said.

Read more here

. For the first time in two months, Bengaluru logged less than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases, as Karnataka on Tuesday reported 5,041 fresh infections and 115 deaths, taking the tally to 27.77 lakh and the toll to 33,148. The day also saw 14,785 discharges, continuing to outnumber the fresh cases, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 25,81,559.

Read more here

. The newly reportedDeltaplusstrain of SARS-CoV-2 is only a “variantof interest” at the moment and not a “variantof concern” because not much is known about its transmissibility and virulence, NITI Ayog member Vinod Paul said on Tuesday.

Read more here

. Taking a cue from Pakistan's Punjab province, the Sindh government on Tuesday announced that it would block the mobile SIM cards of those who refuse to take the Covid-19 vaccines, according to a media report on Tuesday.

Read more here

. Maharashtra reports 9,350 new Covid-19 cases, 15,176 discharges and 388 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Active cases: 1,38,361 Total recoveries: 56,69,179 Death toll: 1,14,154

. The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to give relaxation of two more hours during the night 'corona curfew' across the state from June 21 with the improvement in the Covid-19 situation.

Read more here

. With masks on their chins and a disregard for social distancing, a large number of people are stepping out of their homes in Delhi which is witnessing a phase-wise unlocking of Covid-19 lockdown, prompting doctors to warn about a possibly disastrous third wave of infection.

Read more here

. Although experts are divided in their opinion on a possible third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tamil Nadu government has decided not to dismantle the infrastructure created to handle the huge rush of patients in the past two months.

Read more here

. Kerala reports 12,246 new Covid-19 cases, 13,536 recoveries and 166 deaths today.

Active cases: 1,12,361 Death toll: 11,508

. With the Centre and the state having stepped up the Covid-19 vaccination drive, a 36-year- old man in Assam's Dhubri district has taken it upon himself to convince people, especially those from the underprivileged sections, about the efficacy of the jabs amid reports that many were hesitant to get themselves inoculated.

Read more here

. While all government schools and colleges in Kerala as well as many states are remaining shut owing to Covid, one primary school situated in a remote tribal village is conducting regular classes.

Read more here

. As Covid-19 positivity declines to 2%, Punjab govt orders relaxations from tomorrow; Restaurants, dhabas, cinemas, gyms etc to open at 50% capacity, subject to all their employees have received at least one dose of vaccination. Bars/clubs/ahatas to stay shut.Night curfew to be in place daily in the state from 8 pm to 5 am, and weekend curfew from 8 pm Saturday to 5 am Monday, as the state moves towards partial reopening.

. Delta Plus is a variant of interest. It has not yet been classified as a variant of concern. As per data available in the public domain, this variant nullifies the use of a monoclonal antibody. We will study and learn more about this variant: Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog. (ANI)

. Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday indicated that there will be further relaxation in lockdown restrictions in the state after June 21, when the current Covid-19 guidelines come to an end.

Read more here

. Sputnik V is more efficient against the Delta variant of coronavirus, first detected in India than any other vaccine that published results on this strain so far - the Gamaleya Center study submitted for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal: Sputnik V.

. AstraZeneca Plc’s antibody cocktail was only 33% effective at preventing Covid-19 symptoms in people who had been exposed to the virus, failing a study that was key to the drugmaker’s pandemic push.

Read more here

. Authorities seized a consignment of allegedly spurious Favimax tablets used in the Covid-19 treatment from a wholesaler here in Madhya Pradesh following an input given by the Odisha government, an official said on Tuesday.

Read more here

. Global wealth management major Julius Baer has announced a $1.4-million (around Rs 10.3 crore) commitment to support Covid-19 relief efforts, which will primarily go to nonprofits to help the needy households in the country hit by the second wave of the pandemic.

. A government panel studying Covid-19 vaccine side effects has confirmed the first death due to anaphylaxis following vaccination.

Read more here

. The Delta variant of coronavirus, first identified in India, doubles the risk of hospitalisation compared with the Alpha variant first found in the UK, but Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines provide good protection against the strain, says a study published in The Lancet journal.

Read more here

. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday announced a plan for a phased recovery and exit strategy from the country's coronavirus crisis and said cases continued to be on the decline.

Muhyiddin also announced that 16 more doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been secured for delivery by the end of July. - Reuters

. The Middle East's largest airline, Emirates, announced on Tuesday a net loss of $5.5 billion over the past year as revenue fell by more than 66% due to global travel restrictions sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

. In national capital of New Delhi, thousands of commuters crowded into underground train stations and shopping malls on Tuesday, prompting some doctors to warn it could lead to a resurgence in Covid-19 infections.

. Booze lovers will have to wait for some more days before they could enjoy drinks at their favourite spots, as serving liquor at bars in hotels, clubs and restaurants in the city is yet not allowed, clarified Excise department.

. The Delta variant of coronavirus, first identified in India, doubles the risk of hospitalisation compared with the Alpha variant first found in the UK, but Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines provide good protection against the strain, says a study published in The Lancet journal.

Researchers at Public Health Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, UK, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered better protection against the Delta variant compared to the Oxford-AstraZeneca preventive, known as Covishield in India.

. Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Tuesday a study of its monoclonal antibody treatment, AZD7442, did not meet the main goal of preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in people recently exposed to the novel coronavirus.

The company said the participants in the trial were unvaccinated adults older than 18 years with confirmed exposure to a person with the coronavirus within the past eight days.

AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing symptomatic Covid-19 by 33% compared to a placebo, which was not statistically significant, the company reported. - Reuters.

. We recently heard a new “hybrid variant” of the coronavirus has been detected in Vietnam, amid a spike in cases in the country.

The variant was originally described as a hybrid of the UK (now Alpha) and Indian (now Kappa B.1.617.1 and Delta B.1.617.2) strains of the virus. But what does this actually mean? And if we look at the science behind virus behaviour, is a hybrid really what we’re seeing?

. IOC Vice President John Coates arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, the same day that organisers and the International Olympic Committee were set to roll out the third and final edition of their so-called Playbooks.

. The thirty-fifth "Oxygen Express" carrying 98.09 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO), in 6 cryogenic containers has reached the city, the South Western Railway said on Tuesday.

. It was being suspected that UP will have over 1 Lakh daily positive cases between 25th April & 15th May. It was being suspected that UP will have over 30 lakh active cases by the end of May. That UP has only 7,200 active cases & has reported only 340 positive cases today: UP CM. - ANI.

. Japan will send 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday.

The shipment of AstraZeneca PLC vaccines produced in Japan are due to arrive in Vietnam on Wednesday, Motegi told reporters.

Japan is considering additional vaccine donations to Vietnam and Taiwan, and it plans to send doses to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand early next month, Motegi added. Taiwan received its first shipment of AstraZeneca doses earlier this month. - Reuters.

. Nepal normally has two trekking seasons each year — spring and autumn — when the majority of foreigners come to hike the trails that cut through the country's snow-capped peaks.

. Olympics organisers prepared on Tuesday to unveil their latest "playbook" of rules to control Covid-19 infections as Japan's government pondered whether to extend a state of emergency and senior Olympics official John Coates arrived in Tokyo.

Coates, a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its point-man for the event, sparked a backlash last month when he said the Games would go ahead even if Tokyo were under a state of emergency due to the pandemic. - Reuters

. Did the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 result from high-risk research gone wrong? Regardless of the answer, the risk of future pandemics originating from research with dangerous pathogens is real.

. The ongoing Covid-19 public health crisis has resulted in the creation of an "ecosystem" of innovation in India, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has said ahead of the annual India-US bio-pharma summit in Boston next week.

. India's daily Covid-19 cases continued to decline as the country saw 60,471 infectionsand 2,726deaths in the past 24 hours, data published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed.

. The United States has now lost over 6,00,000 mothers, fathers, children, siblings and friends to Covid-19, a painful reminder that death, sickness and grief continue even as the country begins to return to something resembling pre-pandemic normal.

Coronavirus News Highlights: Delta Plus is a variant of interest, says Niti Aayog member V K Paul

Chandigarh eases Covid-19 restrictions, shops to remain open till 7 pm

Bengaluru reports less than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases for first time in 2 months

In Pic | A worker wearing a PPE suit sanitizes the sitting area in a restaurant that reopened after authorities eased some restrictions and extended Covid-19 induced lockdown till June 30, in Kolkata. Credit: PTI Photo

Delta plus is a variant of interest, not a variant of concern, says VK Paul

Unvaccinated in Pakistan? You may lose your cellphone service

Follow us on :

Follow Us