Covid-19 4th Wave in India May 11 News Highlights: A Day after brief respite, India registered sharp increase in daily infections as well as Covid fatalities on Wednesday. While cases witnessed 26 per cent spike, Covid fatalities jumped 44 per cent in terms of day-on-day comparison.
In other news, Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, has tested positive for Covid-19 infection. Making an official statement via his Twitter handle, Gates said that he was experiencing ‘mild symptoms’. He also said that he is in self-isolation and is consulting experts regularly. Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has told pharma giant Pfizer to lower the prices of it Covid treatment to make it more affordable to people in poorer nations. In other news, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to chair a high-level meeting to discuss the Covid situation in the state.
Stay with FE Online to bring you latest on coronavirus from India and across the world:
Fifty-five percent of the families residing in Delhi and its neighbouring cities surveyed as part of a study have had "one or more members" down with one or more Covid-like symptoms in April and May, a report has claimed.
An online health platform recently conducted an survey and sought responses from residents in Delhi-NCR to a prepared questionnaire.
One of the questions -- 'When you or someone else in the family unwell in April or May, (with symptome like fever, sore throat or cough, cold or congestion, fatigue or body ache, stomach ache, diarrhoea, nausea, breathing difficulties, uneasiness, etc.), did you/they take any type of COVID-19 test'.
In response, the majority, 66 percent of the residents said, "No". Only 22 percent said, "Yes, once", and another 12 percent said, "Yes, multiple times".
"This means, of Delhi-NCR families that had one or more members exhibiting Covid-like symptoms in April-May, two in three did not take the Covid test. This question in the survey received 11,235 responses," LocalCircles claimed in a statement.
The survey also found that of the people who were getting tested, 42 percent of them were opting only for Rapid Antigen Test, it said in a statement.
LocalCircles has attempted to understand the section of people who are having Covid-like symptoms but are choosing to not take the test at all.
The survey received more than 23,500 responses from residents located in all districts of Delhi and NCR cities of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad. As many as 64 percent respondents were men while 36 percent respondents were women, it said.
"To summarise, the survey indicates that 55 percent of Delhi-NCR families have had one or more members down with one or more of these Covid-like symptoms in April and in the first 10 days of May," the platform claimed in the statement.
This could be extrapolated to say that of those with such symptoms in Delhi-NCR, only 19 percent of the cases are coming under any kind of government data and 81 percent are "getting missed out," it claimed.
Delhi reported 1,118 coronavirus cases and one more death on Tuesday, while the positivity rate stood at 4.38 percent, according to data shared by the health department here.
On April 30, the city had recorded 1,607 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, while the positivity rate had stood at 5.28 per cent. (PTI)
The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 10,41,792 on Wednesday after the detection of 45 new cases, while no fresh death linked to the respiratory disease was registered in the state, a health department official said.
The death toll remained unchanged at 10,735, the official said.
The positivity rate, or cases detected per 100 tests, stood at 0.5 per cent, he said.
The recovery count increased by 26 to touch 10,30,838, leaving the state with 219 active cases, the official informed.
With 7,763 swab samples examined during the day, the number of coronavirus tests conducted so far in MP went up to 2,91,61,602, he added.
A government release said 11,81,72,319 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, including 46,178 on Wednesday.
Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 10,41,762, new cases 45, death toll 10,735, recoveries 10,30,838, active cases 219, total tests 2,91,61,602. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu recorded 39 new COVID-19 cases, including three returnees from New Delhi and Uttarakhand, aggregating to 34,54,470, said the Health Department on Wednesday.
Among those tested positive for the infection, include 17 men and 22 women, a bulletin said.
The overall death toll remained unchanged at 38,025 with nil fatalities being recorded in the last 24 hours.
The recoveries grew to 34,16,006 with 41 more people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, leaving 439 active infections.
Chennai accounted for the most of the fresh cases with 19, Chengalpet eight, Coimbatore, and Tiruvallur three each. Villupuram recorded two infections, and Tuticorin one, the bulletin said.
The State capital leads among districts with 222 active infections and 7,52,005 cases overall.
A total of 14,658 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 6,63,40,142 so far, said the bulletin. (PTI)
Telangana on Wednesday reported 46 new COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 7,92,435.
The highest number of 30 cases were reported in Hyderabad.
A health department bulletin said 32 people recuperated from the infection raising the cumulative number of recoveries till date to 7,87,933.
The recovery rate in the state stood at 99.43 per cent.
No fresh fatality occurred due to the infectious disease and the death toll continued to be 4,111.
The bulletin said 14,586 samples were tested on Wednesday.
The number of active cases was 391, it said. (PTI)
Delhi reported 970 fresh Covid cases and one more death on Wednesday, while the positivity rate declined to 3.34 percent, according to data shared by the health department here.
A total of 29,037 tests to detect coronavirus were conducted in Delhi a day before, it stated. | READ MORE
The European Union will no longer require masks to be worn at airports and on planes starting next week amid the easing of coronavirus restrictions across the bloc, authorities said Wednesday.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it hoped the joint decision, made with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, would mark ``a big step forward in the normalization of air travel`` for passengers and crews.
The new guideline ``takes account of the latest developments in the pandemic, in particular the levels of vaccination and naturally acquired immunity, and the accompanying lifting of restrictions in a growing number of European countries,'' the two agencies said in a joint statement. (AP
Biological E has submitted an application to India's drug regulator seeking emergency use authorisation for its Covid vaccine Corbevax as a booster dose in adults fully vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin, sources said on Wednesday.
The Drugs Controller General Of India (DCGI) had already approved Corbevax, India's first indigenously developed RBD protein subunit vaccine, for restricted use in emergency situations for those aged five and above.
Currently, it is being used to inoculate children in the age group of 12 to 14 years.
According to the EUA application submitted to DCGI, Biological E in a phase-3 placebo-controlled clinical study, based on the drug regulator's nod, has evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of Corbevax as a single-dose booster in Covid-negative adults fully vaccinated with either Covishield or Covaxin.
The study was conducted on 416 subjects aged 18 to 80 who were vaccinated with two doses of either Covaxin or Covishield with the last jab administered at least six months prior to giving the booster dose of Corbevax.
"The results showed a significant boost in immunogenicity in terms of neutralizing antibodies after 28 days when compared with placebo cohort in both Covishield and Covaxin arms. (PTI)
People with diabetes were almost twice as likely to die with COVID-19 and nearly three times as likely to be critically or severely ill compared to those without the disease, according to a study.
The researchers from the University of Aberdeen in the UK reviewed data from hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, and found that good management of disease can mitigate the risks. | READ MORE
People with diabetes were almost twice as likely to die with COVID-19 and nearly three times as likely to be critically or severely ill compared to those without the disease, according to a study. The researchers from the University of Aberdeen in the UK reviewed data from hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, and found that good management of disease can mitigate the risks. (PTI)
PM Modi will participate in the Second Global COVID Virtual Summit on 12 May at the invitation of US President Joe Biden. PM will deliver his remarks in the Opening Session of the Summit on the theme ‘Preventing Pandemic Fatigue and Prioritizing Preparedness’: MEA pic.twitter.com/YAWkpH8oGL
— ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2022
More than 2.8 million courses of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid have been made available at pharmacies around the United States, with the Biden administration working to improve access to the drug. As Paxlovid has become more widely used, some patients have reported that COVID-19 symptoms recurred after completing treatment and experiencing improvement. (Reuters)
The European Union will no longer require masks to be worn at airports and on planes starting next week amid the easing of coronavirus restrictions across the bloc, authorities said Wednesday. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it hoped the joint decision, made with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, would mark “a big step forward in the normalisation of air travel" for passengers and crews. The new guideline “takes account of the latest developments in the pandemic, in particular the levels of vaccination and naturally acquired immunity, and the accompanying lifting of restrictions in a growing number of European countries,” the two agencies said in a joint statement. (AP)
Puducherry did not register any fresh coronavirus case on Wednesday and the overall caseload remained 1,65,799. PTI
Odisha recorded 17 more coronavirus cases on Wednesday, while there was no new fatality for the eight successive day, the health department said. There are 131 active COVID-19 cases and 52 more patients have recuperated from the disease, according to a bulletin. The daily positivity rate was 0.11 per cent and a child was among the newly infected, it said, adding that 15,103 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, the bulletin stated. - PTI
COVID19 cases are rising in Punjab, UP & Delhi. I spoke with their Health Ministers. They said cases are rising but there's only mild symptoms & people are recovering in home isolation. In Maharashtra, cases are rising but not rapidly, so no need to panic: Maharashtra Health Minister Tope
Mizoram on Wednesday reported 33 fresh COVID-19 cases, eight more than the previous day, taking the state's tally to 2,27,794, a health department official said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 697 as no fresh fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, the official said. - PTI
A United Nations Weibo post on the World Health Organization chief's comments that China's zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy is not sustainable was removed from the Chinese social media platform on Wednesday morning shortly after being published. WeChat, another Chinese social media platform, disabled the sharing function of a similar post by the United Nations. - Reuters
Shanghai Runda Medical Technology said on Wednesday it has ordered its COVID testing affiliate to carry out checks after Shanghai residents whose samples were processed by the lab questioned the accuracy of results. Reuters
The data showed that a decrease of 143 cases has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 0.61 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 0.74 per cent, according to the health ministry. - PTI
The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 10,41,747 on Tuesday after the detection of 30 cases, while there was no addition to the toll, which stood at 10,735, an official said.
The positivity rate, or cases detected per 100 tests, was 0.5 per cent, while the recovery count increased by 29 to touch 10,30,812, leaving the state with 200 active cases, the official informed.
With 5,471 samples examined during the day, the number of tests in MP went up to 2,91,53,839, he added.
A government release said 11,81,23,007 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, including 19,206 on Tuesday.
Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 10,41,747, new cases 30, death toll 10,735, recoveries 10,30,812, active cases 200, number of tests so far 2,91,53,839. (PTI)
Telangana on Tuesday recorded 28 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 7,92,389 so far.
Hyderabad reported the highest number of cases with 20.
A Health Department bulletin said 34 people recuperated from the infection, raising the cumulative number of recoveries to 7,87,901 till date.
The recovery rate stood at 99.43 per cent.
No fresh fatality occurred due to the infectious disease and the toll remained at 4,111.
The bulletin said 14,753 samples were tested today.
The number of active cases was 377, it said. (PTI)
Odisha on Tuesday recorded 12 new COVID-19 cases, four more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 12,88,222, a health department bulletin said.
The death toll remained at 9,126 as no fresh fatality due to the infection was reported for the last one week, it said.
Fifty-three other coronavirus patients have died due to comorbidities so far.
Fifty-two more people recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 12,78,929, the bulletin said.
Odisha now has 114 active cases.
The daily positivity rate was at 0.08 per cent and four children were among the newly infected people, it said.
Altogether, 14,225 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the bulletin added. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 223 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, taking the overall tally to 78,79,622 and the toll to 1,47,849, a health department official said.
The addition to the COVID-19 tally was a steep rise from the 121 cases recorded in the state on Monday, which incidentally was covered by Mumbai alone that saw 122 infections during the day, he pointed out.
The twin coronavirus-linked deaths took place in Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation limits, part of Thane district which falls in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and in Satara, western Maharashtra, he said.
So far, 77,30,370 persons have been discharged post-recovery, including 161 in the last 24 hours, leaving the state with 1,403 active cases, he said.
State health department data showed Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Latur, Osmanabad, Akola, Yavatmal, Bhandara, Gondia and Gadchiroli districts had no active case as on Tuesday.
It also revealed that 25,592 coronavirus tests carried out in the last 24 hours had taken the total number of swab samples examined in the state to 8,04,22,318.
The coronavirus recovery rate was 98.11 per cent, while the fatality rate in the state stood at 1.87 per cent, as per health department data. (PTI)
Delhi reports 1118 fresh COVID-19 cases, 1015 recoveries and one death in the last 24 hours.
Active cases 5471 (ANI)
Effective mask use can drastically slow the spread of COVID-19, reduce the magnitude of the pandemic peak by flattening the curve, and reduce the prevalence of severe cases, according to a study. Researchers from McMaster University in Canada developed a model to investigate COVID-19 "variolation" -- an incidental but potentially beneficial form of immunisation achieved by inhaling smaller doses of the virus than would be inhaled without a mask. They noted that a form of variolation was deliberately used in the 18th century to control smallpox. (PTI)
WHO's calculation method and data on COVID-19 deaths in India is incorrect, says Writer Priyam Gandhi-Mody (ANI)
The World Health Organization and its COVID-19 vaccine partner Gavi have no immediate plans to buy shots made by Aspen Pharmacare, the two bodies said, dealing a blow to Africa's efforts to develop its own vaccine production capacity. (Reuters)
Teams in white protective suits are entering the homes of coronavirus-infected people to spray disinfectant as Shanghai tries to root out an omicron outbreak under China's strict “zero-COVID” strategy. City official Jin Chen said Tuesday that in older communities with shared bathrooms and kitchens, the homes of anyone else who uses those facilities will also be disinfected. He tried to address public concern about damage to clothing and valuables, saying residents can inform the teams about anything that needs protection. Shanghai also suspended service on the last two subway lines that were still operating Tuesday, marking the first time the city's entire system has been shut down, according to The Paper, an online media outlet. (AP)
Tesla operated its Shanghai plant well below capacity on Tuesday, showing the problems factories face trying to ramp up output under a tightening COVID-19 lockdown, while China's capital kept up its fight with a small but stubborn outbreak. - Reuters