Coronavirus News Highlights: Pfizer CEO says this may be last Covid wave with restrictions

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday that although the "most likely scenario" is that Coronavirus will be circulating for many years to come, he believes the current wave of infections will be the final one that requires restrictions. - IANS.

. The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed petitions challenging the closure of spas and wellness centres in the national capital on account of Covid-19.

Justice V Kameswar Rao, while dealing with pleas by certain spa owners challenging the December 28 decision of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), noted that the authorities were seized of the issue and it was not for the court to decide if a direction can be given for the opening of spas and wellness centres at this stage. - PTI.

. The Tripura government will launch a three-day special vaccination drive for individuals between 15-18 years of age from Wednesday. The initiative will begin in maximum number of schools in all eight districts of the state by strictly adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour, health department officials said. - PTI.

. Denmark registered a record number of coronavirus infections on Monday, as cinemas, museums and other cultural institutions reopened after a month-long Covid-19 lockdown.

The Nordic country registered 28,780 new cases in the space of 24 hours and the number of coronavirus-related hospitalisations rose to 802, the highest in a year.

Still, health authorities said earlier this month that the now-predominant Omicron variant was milder than initially thought and that around 29% of those in hospital were there due to reasons other than Covid-19. - Reuters.

. While Omicron is known to cause Covid re-infection, there is no strong evidence yet in the favour of a person being affected with the vaccine dodging strain again, said Indian health experts here on Monday.

. Moderna Inc's vaccine candidate against the Omicron coronavirus variant will enter clinical development in the next few weeks and the company expects to be able to share data with regulators around March, CEO Stephane Bancel said on Monday.

"The vaccine is being finished ... it should be in the clinic in coming weeks. We are hoping in the March timeframe to be able to have data to share with regulators to figure out next steps," Bancel said at the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Agenda conference.

Moderna is also developing a single vaccine that combines a booster dose against Covid-19 with its experimental flu shot. - Reuters.

. Singapore woman shuttler Yeo Jia Min has tested positive for Covid-19 upon her return from India after withdrawing from the just-concluded India Open in New Delhi.

The Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) said Yeo had tested negative in India.

However according to SBA, the rapid antigen test (RAT) she took upon arrival in Singapore on Sunday returned positive.

Her positive test result was later confirmed by a second confirmatory RAT test on Monday. - PTI.

. The number of daily Covid-19 cases continued to rise sharply in Kerala with the state reporting 22,946 fresh infections on Monday taking the total caseload to 53,92,652, a health bulletin said.

The state Health Department said the growth rate of new virus cases has shot up by 182 per cent compared to the number of cases reported in the previous week (January 10 and 16).

The toll in the state touched 50,904 with 72 virus-related deaths, it said. - PTI.

. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai decided to wait till Friday to decide on whether or not Karnataka should continue with a weekend curfew, even as the government ruled out any possibility of a full-fledged lockdown.

. The government has completed 100 per cent, the first dose of vaccination against Covid for state-run school students of 15-18 years of age, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said here on Monday. - PTI.

. The global job market will take longer to recover than previously thought, with unemployment set to remain above pre-Covid-19 levels until at least 2023 due to uncertainty about the pandemic's course and duration, the International Labour Organization said in a report on Monday.

The UN agency estimates the equivalent of around 52 million fewer jobs in 2022 versus pre-Covid levels, which amounts to about double its previous estimate from June 2021.

Disruptions are set to continue into 2023 when there will still be around 27 million fewer jobs, it said, warning of a "slow and uncertain" recovery in its World Employment and Social Outlook report for 2022. - Reuters.. Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatraya on Monday flagged off two trucks containing 4,000 hygiene kits prepared by the Indian Red Cross Society for 22 districts to check the spread of coronavirus.

Each kit contains items like soap, oil, toothpaste, toothbrush, napkin etc. Each district will get 150 to 200 kits. - IANS.

. Tickets for the Winter Olympics set to begin on Feb 4 will be distributed to "targeted" groups of people and will not be sold to the general public due to Covid-19, the organising commitee said on Monday.

Organisers had already said there would not be any international spectators at the Games, as part of China's efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus. - Reuters.

. India may begin inoculating children in the 12-14 age group against Covid-19 in March as the 15-18 population is likely to get fully vaccinated by then, Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of NTAGI, said on Monday.

Of the estimated 7.4 crore (7,40,57,000) population in the 15-18 age bracket, over 3.45 crore have received the first dose of Covaxin so far and their second dose is due in 28 days, he said.

"Adolescents in this age group have been actively participating in the inoculation process, and going by this pace of vaccination, the rest of the beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group are likely to be covered with the first dose by January-end and subsequently their second dose is expected to be done by February-end," said the Chairman of the Covid working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI). - PTI.

. People who use electronic cigarettes and test positive for Covid-19 have a higher frequency of experiencing Covid symptoms, compared to people who don't vape, according to new research from Mayo Clinic.

The study, published in the Journal of Primary Care &amp; Community Health, found that symptoms include headaches, muscle aches and pain, chest pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, and loss of the sense of smell or taste.

People who vape and also smoked tobacco, and tested positive for Covid, complained of laboured breathing and had more frequent emergency department visits than those who did not vape. - IANS.

. Starting from Wednesday, 967 schools in Kerala will turn into Covid-19 vaccination centres with the aim to inoculate all students who were born in or after 2007.

State Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Monday said that a special room will be assigned for the inoculation drive.

"There are 8.14 lakh children are yet to be vaccinated and of this 51 per cent have got their first dose. Vaccination will be given only with the consent of the parents," said Sivankutty. - IANS.

. The single Omicron case detected in Beijing was traced back to an international document from Canada, and it was found to have similar strains from those in North America and Singapore, the Global Times reported citing health authorities in the Chinese capital as saying.

The authorities said that Omicron variant was detected on the outer package, internal surface and papers of the mail. - IANS.

. Indore reported 1,890 Covid cases yesterday, with 10,313 active cases. There are no serious symptoms in these cases, majority being under home isolation. 153 patients are hospitalised, 12 cases with comorbidities needed ICU & 28 needed oxygen-beds: Indore CMHO BS Setia - ANI.

. Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said Monday that experts are divided on whether or not Covid-19 curbs should be relaxed, even as he hinted that the government is in favour of giving citizens some leeway.

. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that indulging in a blame game over the pandemic situation will not eradicate the coronavirus and it should be eliminated from the entire country.

His remarks came in response to Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij's statement that "increasing coronavirus cases in Delhi have affected the NCR (National Capital Region) and the infection rate has increased in Gurugram, Faridabad and Sonipat districts". - PTI.

. The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the state government to ramp up daily numbers of RT-PCR tests for Covid-19.

The court asked the health authorities to conduct a lakh RT-PCR tests every day. It also directed them to provide separate details about the RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen tests in the daily Covid bulletin.

The court gave the directions while hearing petitions related to Covid situation in the state. - IANS.

. In the wake of an ongoingCovid-19 resurgence, private and public testing facilities in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka are now witnessing an unprecedented influx of patients.

Long queues were seen on Sunday at one of the largest testing centers in Dhaka, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where tests are conducted at a nominal fee, reports Xinhua news agency.

In the past week, queues also got longer outside many other private and public facilities, which share RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) results within 12 hours.

. After nearly fortnight, the 24-hour Covid-19 cases in Mumbai dropped below the 10,000 mark even as there was a significant drop in the test positivity rate.

. Karnataka on Sunday reported 34,047 new cases and a test positivity rate (TPR) of 19.29%, as experts predicted a Covid peak only in February.

Coronavirus News Highlights: Pfizer CEO says this may be last Covid wave with restrictions

Pfizer CEO says this may be last Covid wave with restrictions

HC dismisses challenge to closure of spas in Delhi due to Covid-19

Special vaccination drive for 15-18 age group in Tripura

Bengal records 9,385 new Covid-19 cases, 5,553 less than Sunday's count; 33 fresh fatalities

Denmark eases coronavirus restrictions, as cases hit new record

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