Coronavirus News Highlights: Delhi reports 1,417 new Covid-19 cases and 3 deaths in the past 24 hours

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Chhattisgarh logs 188 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths; active tally at 1,641

Chhattisgarh on Friday reported 188 newCovid-19cases at a positivity rate of 5.61 per cent, taking the overall tally to 11,71,990, while the death toll increased by three to reach 14,097, an official said. The patient recovery count stood at 11,56,252 after 269 people recovered from the viral infection during the day, leaving the state with 1,641 active cases, he said.

Delhi reports 1,417 new Covid-19 cases and 3 deaths in the past 24 hours

Nashik sees 21 Covid-19 cases; active tally now 326

TheCovid-19tally in Nashik reached 4,80,932 on Friday after 21 cases were detected, while the death toll remained unchanged at 8,903, an official said. So far, 4,71,703 persons have been discharged, including 66 during the day, leaving the district with 326 active cases, he added.

Odisha reports 385 new Covid-19 cases, 1 more death

Odisha'sCovid-19tally rose to 13,24,454 on Friday as 385 more people, including 58 children, tested positive for the virus, a health department bulletin said.

The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 9,161 after another patient succumbed to the disease. The state had logged 482 infections and a fatality on Thursday.

Scientists discover 'weak spot' across all major Covid-19 variants

A team led by an Indian-origin researcher has discovered a key vulnerability across all major variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causesCovid-19, including the recently emerged BA.1 and BA.2 omicron subvariants.

The weakness can be targeted by neutralising antibodies, potentially paving the way for treatments that would be universally effective across variants, the researchers said.

Mizoram logs 158 new Covid-19 cases

Mizoram reported 158 newCovid-19cases on Friday, eight more than the previous day, raising the tally to 2,35,840, a health official said.

The state's coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 717, with no fatalities reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.

Maharashtra reports 2285 new Covid-19 cases with 5 deaths in the last 24 hrs

Assam reports 119 new Covid-19 cases

Assam logged 119 newCovid-19cases in the last 24 hours, 55 less than the previous day, a National Health Mission (NHM), Assam, bulletin said on Friday.

The overall caseload of patients testing positive for coronavirus in the state thus far has increased to 7,43,341, it added.

The state’sCovid-19death toll remained unchanged at 6,679 with no fatality recorded in the past 24 hours. Another 1,347Covid-19patients have died due to other co-morbidities.

Dip in number of fresh Covid-19 cases in Puducherry

Puducherry logged 51 freshCovid-19cases, a senior health department official said here on Friday. The union territory of Thursday reported 80 new cases. Director of Health G Sriramulu in a release said the 51 fresh cases emerged after the examination of 755 samples in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM today.

How long are you likely to be infectious with Covid-19?

A majority of Covid patients are not infectious before symptoms appear, and once it begins people must isolate for five days, suggests a study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.

The study led by a team at Imperial College of London is the first to unveil how long infectiousness lasts for after naturalCovid-19infection in the community.

The team examined 57 people with mildCovid-19to estimate how long people are infectious for and when they can safely leave isolation. Average duration of infectiousness in the study participants was five days.

WHO experts recommend 2nd Covid booster for vulnerable groups

Countries should consider giving a secondCovid-19vaccine booster to the elderly, pregnant women, health workers, people with weaker immune systems and those at higher risk of severe disease, according to a team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Metformin can lower odds of severe Covid-19 outcomes: Study

Metformin, a commonly prescribed diabetes medication, can help lower the odds of emergency department visits, hospitalisations, or death due to Covid-19 by over 50 per cent if prescribed early in onset of symptoms, finds a study.

Japan reports Covid spike, medical system overwhelmed

Amid a resurgence, Japan recorded more than 6 million newCovid-19 cases in the past month, with more than 200 daily deaths on nine of the 11 days, which has further strained its medical system fueled by the seventh wave of the pandemic.

The country logged a record daily high of 255,534 new cases on Thursday, the second time that the number exceeded 250,000 in a single day since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

India's Covid-19 death toll climbed to 5,27,253 with 47 fatalities which includes eight deaths reconciled by Kerala

Delhi records 1,964 new Covid cases, eight fatalities; positivity rate stands at 9.42%

India reports 15,754 fresh cases and 15,220 recoveries in the last 24 hours

Active cases now standsat 1,01,830 while daily positivity rate is 3.47%

Shanghai reports 3 new local asymptomatic Covid cases

Shanghai reported three new domestically transmitted asymptomatic coronavirus cases for August18, down from four cases a day earlier, while no local symptomatic cases were reported, the same as a day earlier, the city government said on Friday. (Reuters)