Goa reports 69 new COVID-19 cases; two deaths

Goa's coronavirus caseload reached   55,212, after 69 persons tested positive for the infection on Thursday, an official from the state health department said. With two more casualties during the day, the toll went up to 798, the official said.

Tamil Nadu records 482 new COVID-19 cases; 4 fatalities

Tamil Nadu posted 482 new   coronavirus cases and four more deaths, taking the caseload to 8.53 lakh and the toll to 12,508, the health department said on Thursday.     Recoveries outnumbered new cases with 490 people being discharged, taking the cumulative number to 8,36,963, leaving 3,978 active cases in the state.

261 new COVID-19 cases in Delhi; positivity rate 0.39%

Delhi recorded 261 new coronavirus cases and one fresh fatality on Thursday which pushed the death toll in the city to 10,915, authorities said. These new cases came out of 66,432 COVID19 tests conducted on Wednesday.

Obesity a driving factor in COVID-19 deaths, global report finds

The majority of global COVID19 deaths have been in countries where many people are obese, with coronavirus fatality rates 10 times higher in nations where at least 50% of adults are overweight, a global study found on Thursday.

COVID-19 prompts women to take ownership of money, invest more: Survey

A greater number of women in India are taking ownership of their money and investing more as compared to 2020, when the COVID19 pandemic ravaged the economy and hit household budgets, according to a survey. The percentage of women who actively invest has risen by 10 percentage points since last year, the survey conducted by Scripbox, a digital wealth management service firm, ahead of the International Women's Day found.

WHO investigators to scrap interim report on probe of COVID-19 origins

A World Health Organization team investigating the origins of COVID19 is planning to scrap an interim report on its recent mission to China amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington over the investigation and an appeal from one international group of scientists for a new probe, the Wall Street Journal reported https://on.wsj.com/388QK6F on Thursday.

Hungary toughens COVID-19 lockdown to curb "very strong" third wave

Hungary announced new COVID19 lockdown measures on Thursday to try to curb a "very strong" third wave of the pandemic, closing most shops and shifting to remote learning in primary schools.

Andhra Pradesh reports 102 new COVID-19 cases

Andhra Pradesh reported 102 new   cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday, taking the caseload to 8,90,317, while recoveries mounted to 8,82,275 with 56 people getting cured. More than 45,000 tests were conducted during the period and one more person succumbed to the disease, pushing the toll to 7,171.

EU regulator starts a review of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V

The European Medicines Agency said it has started a rolling review of Sputnik V, many months after the vaccine was first approved for use in Russia and after dozens of countries around the world have authorized it.

WHO says bilateral COVID-19 vaccine deals not good for COVAX

Countries should not agree bilateral deals that undermine the international COVAX COVID19 vaccine procurement facility, but they also have a responsibility to vaccinate frontline workers swiftly, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge said on Thursday.

Italy to give just one COVID-19 vaccine shot to those previously infected

Italy will administer a single vaccine dose to those who have already been infected with COVID-19, the health ministry said late Wednesday. "A single dose of vaccine may be considered for individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, symptomatic or asymptomatic", the ministry statement said. The recommendation applies to people diagnosed with COVID between three and six months previously. France and Spain announced a similar policy last month, in a move that also appears to be aimed at saving vaccine shots and boosting supplies while EU countries are struggling to run their vaccination campaigns due to supply cuts imposed by drugmakers. Italy, which has a population of around 60 million, had administered 4.76 doses of vaccines as of early Thursday, with some 1.5 million people receiving the recommended two shots.

Sri Lanka approves Russia's Sputnik V vaccine

Sri Lanka’s drug regulatory body has approved the Russian Sputnik V vaccine as the second available for use in the Indian Ocean island nation. The state minister overseeing pharmaceutical products, Channa Jayasumana, said Sri Lanka has requested doses from Russias Gamaleya Research Institute and was awaiting confirmation of the amount it would get. Sri Lanka already is administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute in India. It received 1 million doses, half donated and half purchased from the institute. Starting in January with frontline health workers, Sri Lanka has given the vaccine to more than 550,000 people. It plans to purchase 10 million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses for $52.5 million from the Serum Institute, and it has decided to enter into an agreement with the AstraZeneca Institute in Britain to buy 3.5 million more. Sri Lanka has counted 84,225 cases of COVID-19 with 484 fatalities.

HC asks Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech to disclose capacity to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines

The Delhi High Court Thursday directed Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to disclose their capacities to manufacture Covaxin, Covishield vaccines. The high court also asked the Centre to explain in affidavit the rationale behind keeping strict control over class of persons who can be vaccinated against COVID-19 currently as under the present system those above the age of 60 years or between 45 to 60 years with comorbidities can receive vaccination. A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said the two institutes-- Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech -- have more capacity to provide the vaccines but it seems that they are not exploiting it fully. It also asked the Delhi government to carry out inspection of medical facilities available in court complexes here and to report if COVID-19 vaccination centres could be set up there. The high court was hearing a PIL initiated by it to examine the demand of Bar Council of Delhi to declare all people associated with the judicial functioning, including judges, court staff and lawyers as frontline workers so that they could receive COVID-19 vaccination on priority and without limitations of their age or physical condition.

UK and 4 nations to fast-track modified COVID-19 vaccines

Regulators in the UK and four other countries plan to fast-track the development of modified COVID-19 vaccines to ensure that drugmakers are able to move swiftly in targeting emerging variants of the disease. Previously authorized vaccines that are modified to target new variants will not need a brand new approval or lengthy clinical studies, Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said in a statement. The new guidance was issued jointly by regulators in the U.K., Australia, Canada, Singapore and Switzerland. The guidelines build on the model already used to modify the flu vaccine in response to continual changes in that virus. Under the new rules, developers will be required to provide robust evidence that modified COVID-19 vaccines produce a strong immune response to the variant, as well as data showing they are safe and meet quality standards.

Pakistan suspends flagship cricket tournament after COVID-19 cases among teams

Pakistan is suspending its flagship cricket tournament that started last month after seven team personnel tested positive for COVID-19, the cricket board said in a statement on Thursday. "The health and wellbeing of all participants is paramount," the statement said, adding the decision to suspend the HBL Pakistan Super League 6 with immediate effect was made following a meeting with the team owners. It added that the decision was made after seven cases were reported in the competition, which started on Feb. 20.

Raging pandemic shuts down Sao Paulo as Brazil nears Pfizer deal

Brazil set a daily record for COVID-19 deaths for a second straight day on Wednesday, as a raging resurgence of the virus led Sao Paulo state to shutter businesses and the government to try to close vaccine deals with Pfizer and Janssen. With a new coronavirus variant from the Amazon spurring more infections, according to studies, 1,910 people died from the virus in the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data. In a year, Brazil's death toll has nearly topped 260,000, the world's second-worst after the United States. A sputtering vaccination campaign has also put pressure on Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, who said on Wednesday he was close to an agreement with Pfizer Inc, effectively overcoming a dispute over liability clauses. The government said it intended to buy 100 million doses from Pfizer and 38 million from Janssen, the pharmaceutical subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The partial lockdown in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most-populous state, underscored mounting concerns about a surging new wave of infections. The country is facing its deadliest stretch since the pandemic began due to a homegrown variant dubbed P1, scarce restrictions to slow the virus and the patchy vaccine rollout.

Six states account for over 85 percent of fresh cases

Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka continue to report a surge in daily new COVID-19 cases, accounting for 85.51 percent of fresh cases, the Union Health ministry said on Thursday. India recorded more than 17k new infections yesterday. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 9,855. This is the highest number recorded in the state since October 18 when more than 10k new cases were reported. It is followed by Kerala with 2,765 while Punjab reported over 700 new cases. The total number of cases with UK, South Africa, and Brazil variants of COVID-19 in the country as of yesterday has reached 242, the ministry said. India's total COVID-19 active caseload has crossed 1.73 lakhs, comprising1.55 percent of India's total cases. Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Assam witnessed a reduction in the active cases in 24 hours, whereas, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat recorded a rise.