Coronavirus News Highlights: Kerala records 51,570 new Covid cases

Assam reports 910 new Covid cases, 20 deaths

Qatar approves Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5-11 years

Qatari Ministry of Health approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, it said on Sunday. In November, Gulf states Bahrain and Saudi Arabia approved the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use for children in the same age category.

Kerala records 51,570 new Covid cases

Delhi reports 3,674 new Covid cases, 30 deaths and 6,954 recoveries

Mumbai reports 1,160 new Covid cases, 2,530 recoveries, and 10 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy tests Covid-19 positive

India fighting new wave of Covid with 'great success': PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is fighting the new wave ofCovidwith "great success" and asserted that the people's trust on indigenous vaccines was "our strength".

In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio broadcast, Modi said, "Now the cases of corona infection have also started decreasing, this is a very positive sign."

It is a matter of pride that till now about four-and-a-half crore children have been administered the first dose of coronavirus vaccine, he said.

Educational institutions in Tripura to open from Monday: Minister

The state government had closed schools from January 15 till January 30 following the spike inCovid-19 cases

China reports 34 new Covid-19 cases among Games-related personnel

Thirty-four new Covid-19 infections were detected among Olympics-related personnel, the Beijing 2022 Winter Games organising committee said on Sunday, including Poland's short track medal hopeful Natalia Maliszewska.

Of those, 13 were athletes or team officials who tested positive after arriving at the airport on Saturday.

Of the total infections, 23 were among new airport arrivals, while 11 were people already in the "closed loop" bubble that separates event personnel from the public in an effort to curb the spread of infections.

The loop allows Games participants to move freely between their accommodations and Olympic venues on official transport, but they are not allowed to move freely in the city. All Games stakeholders, including media and staff, are also tested daily.

Afghans urged to get vaccinated against Covid

The Taliban's acting Health Minister Qalandar Ebad has urged Afghans across the country to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as a collective effort to stop the further spread of the virus.

In a video message on Saturday, Ebad said protecting oneself is one of the obligations of the Islam religion and that the vaccine is the most effective way to fight Covid-19, reports Khaama Press.

"Fortunately, Afghanistan has imported millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines that are now available in centres across all 34 provinces," the acting Health Minister said.

Component shortage, Covid uncertainty to hit global smartphone market

Component shortages, price inflation and Covid uncertainty will continue to weigh on the smartphone market during the first half of 2022, a new report has shown.

The situation, however, may ease in the second half due to Covid vaccines, interest rate rises by central banks, and less supply disruption at factories, according to Strategy Analytics.

"We forecast global smartphone shipments to grow a mild 3 per cent (on-year) in full-year 2022. This year will be a tale of two halves," said Linda Sui, Senior Director at Strategy Analytics.

According to new research, global smartphone shipments fell 3 per cent YoY to 365 million units in Q4 2021.

Decision on reopening MP schools to be taken after consulting experts: CM

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the decision on reopening schools in the state will be taken after consultation with experts and review of the Covid-19 situation. The state government had on January 14 ordered closure of schools and hostels for Classes 1 to 12 till January 31 in the wake of a surge in Covid-19 cases at that time.

Despite Covid, it's home or bust for China holiday travellers

The pandemic prevented Shanghai schoolteacher Chen Hainan from returning to her hometown to reunite with family for the past two Lunar New Year holidays, but not even lingering virus concerns and repeated Covid tests will keep her away this time.

Chen, 30, needs to get her nose or throat swabbed a grand total of five times to ensure passage home to eastern Zhejiang province and back.

"I was not planning to go home this year, either. But after thinking how I haven't been back for two years, I decided this year to go through all the difficulty," she said, getting ready to depart at Shanghai's bustling main train station.

In normal times, hundreds of millions of people -- migrant workers, students, and just about anyone working away from their hometown -- pack buses, trains and planes early each year in the world's largest annual human migration.

India logs 2.34 lakh Covid-19 cases, 893 deaths

India on Sunday recorded 2,34,281 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, marginally lower from over 2.35 lakh Covid-19 cases recorded a day prior. The number of Covid-related deaths, however, increased to 893, from 871 a day ago.

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India logs 2.34 lakh Covid-19 cases, 893 deaths

The death toll stood at 4,94,091.The active case count was at 18,84,937, with a daily positivity rate of 14.5 per cent.So far, 1,65,70,60,692 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered, according to the health ministry data.

PM Modi congratulates nation on full vaccination of 75% of adults

India has vaccinated 75 per cent of its eligible adult population against Covid-19, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet.

Global Covid caseload tops 372.1 mn

Amid an ongoing resurgence across the world, the global coronavirus caseload has topped 372.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.65 million and vaccinations to over 9.94 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Sunday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 372,107,746 and 5,656,925, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 9,941,916,606.

Curbs delay, but won't prevent Omicron spread: Study

Validating the government’s decision to lift night curfew from Monday and to reopen schools, a case study of Bengaluru Urban on the impact of daily night and weekend curfews concluded that the restrictions, at best, slow and delay the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

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Research hints at factors affecting long Covid chances

It is one of many mysteries about long Covid: Who is more prone to developing it? Are some people more likely than others to experience physical, neurological or cognitive symptoms that can emerge, or linger for, months after their coronavirus infections have cleared?

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