Sensing the possible repercussions of the deadly prowl of the Covid-19 virus which reportedly took 'birth' in China the previous year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, 2020, officially declared it as a global pandemic, virtually isolating people and countries of the world from each other.
A fortnight later, among the first in the international comity of nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared the nationwide lockdown (March 24, 2020).
People locked up in their homes, villages, towns, cities, districts, states, and even the country as a whole and shuddered indoors for months thereafter.
After four years today, the Covid-19 pandemic notched up an ominous track record for India and the world.
As per the Covid-19 tracker, Worldometer, India recorded a total of 4,50,33,332 cases. Of which, a staggering 533,535 were fatal.
The US led the planet with a stupendous 11,17,27,592 afflictions and the highest 12,18,464 deaths -- more than double of India's toll.
The world notched a grand total of 70,43,18,936 infections and 70,07,114 souls falling to the scourge of the invisible virus.
At the other extreme, of the 229 countries on earth monitored by Worldometer, the Western Sahara (West Africa) had the lowest -- 10 Covid-19 infections plus one death -- in a population of around 500,000, making it the second most sparsely populated country in the world.
It was preceded by the Vatican City -- the abode of The Pope -- with 29 afflictions, Tokelau (80), in the sub-100 category.
In the 1000-plus recorded cases were Niue (1,059 cases, near New Zealand), Montserrat (1,403 cases and 8 deaths, in the Caribbean Isles, a British Overseas Territory), and Falkland Islands (1,930 cases, another British Overseas Territory and the cause of the Falklands war of 1982 between Argentina and UK).
As the world reeled under the impact of Covid-19, certain epochal developments were witnessed -- the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia's Mecca and Medina was cancelled that year for the two million-plus Muslims who converge there from around the world every year.
A grim Pope Francis delivered a special blessing to the world at a rain-soaked but starkly empty St. Peter's Square in The Vatican, but it was watched live by over 11 million people in Italy and in Europe.
Closer home in Mumbai, the iconic Mohammed Ali Road's Ramadan street food bazaar remained shut for the entire month for the first time in its nearly 250-year-old history.
As the lockdown -- starting with the first 21-day instalment -- proceeded in batches for around two years, restrictions were gradually eased as many suffered mental and psychological agony owing to the curbs on free physical movements or limited interactions with fellow beings.
The pandemic and the accompanying paranoia saw a new world order emerging on various fronts, local and global air travel, health-care schemes, classroom to online teaching, offices shifting to work-from-home mode, holidays reduced to 'at-homes', physical buying activity largely replaced by online shopping, doorstep delivery of everything in the markets, temple visits replaced by virtual ‘darshan’, online Sunday masses or Friday 'namaz', etc.
Though the economies of many countries were in tatters at that time, India under Prime Minister Modi shone like a pole star on the world horizon, its in-built resilience helped overcome the crippling health crisis -- it not only 'exploited the opportunity' but successfully overcame the pandemic challenges and was regarded as a saviour of sorts by supplying vaccines to over a 100 countries.
At the micro-level, people and families were 'separated' for months or in many cases even more than a year, domestically or internationally, taking solace in video calls on mobiles or laptops, weddings became truncated as most near and dear ones couldn't attend, Covid-19 deaths shattered many families as they weren't allowed to even take a last glimpse of their beloved or attend the funeral or burial.
However, amid the tragedy and deaths, humanity also bloomed in different ways - a Muslim man stranded in the lockdown was housed for months by a Hindu family in Maharashtra; three Hindu sisters, including one in 9th month of pregnancy, were sheltered for many months by a Muslim Mumbaikar, and one sister delivered and nurtured an infant girl at his home; and many more such heart-warming tales were seen and heard, bringing people closer to each other in a crisis.
Millions of desperate migrants moving around the country from state to state were saved from starvation by hundreds of Corona Angels like Baba Karnail Singh Khaira, 85, of Yavatmal who threw open his 'Gurudwara Langar' (NH-7) to feed over two million hungry migrants (March 24-May 31), and lakhs took advantage of the 'Shiv Bhojan Thali' of Maharashtra government's Rs 5/plate meal scheme, and free distribution of rations by governments, corporates, NGOs and individuals to the poor and needy.
Fortunately, by December 2020, the world had developed its first Covid-19 vaccine, and in January 2021, even India got its own vaccines, both considered 'life-savers', but for emergency uses.
Till now, nearly 14 billion Covid-19 doses have been administered to nearly 70 per cent of the world's eligible population, despite known and unknown, short-term or long-term side-effects, but few are complaining.
Nevertheless, the world is a much safer place to live and thrive compared with the dark era that was witnessed just four years ago.
In May 2023, the WHO declared the end of the pandemic and by the end of 2023, the coronavirus seemed to have exhausted its killer appetite and the world rests easy now -- the latest figures of daily Covid-19 infections are below 100, restricted to barely a handful of countries.
The PM, as the CJI recalls, said, “I believe that you are down with Covid and I hope everything is fine. I realise that you are not in good shape but we'll do everything. There is a vaidya who is also a secretary at AYUSH and I'll arrange a call with him who'll send you medicine and all.”
"I took medicine from AYUSH when I was down with Covid. The second and third time when I had Covid, I didn't take any allopathic medicine at all," he said, underlining his faith in alternative holistic treatments,” the CJI said.
CJI DY Chandrachud said that the inauguration of AYUSH Holistic Wellness Centre was a “satisfying moment” for him.
"I try to follow a holistic lifestyle myself. I am a proponent of Ayurveda and a holistic lifestyle. I wake up at 3:30 am to do my yoga and I've been following a vegan diet for the past five months. I am happy that the facility now comes to the Supreme Court and I believe, through us, we will be able to spread the message of Ayurveda across the country and beyond," he said.
Interestingly, as it turned out, CJI Chandrachud is a vegan. He claimed, “I do Yoga. I follow a vegan diet. In the last five months, I have completely followed a vegan diet and I will continue it.”
This comes even as the country is under the grip of the new highly transmissible JN.1 variant with immune escaping features.
In a study published in npj Vaccines, the team reported the design of a synthetic antigen that can be manufactured as a potential Covid-19 vaccine candidate.
They show that their vaccine candidate is effective against all current strains of SARS-CoV-2 and can be quickly adapted for future variants as well.
After analysing various proteins found in the virus, the team led by Raghavan Varadarajan, Professor at IISC's Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU), selected two parts of SARS-CoV-2's spike protein -- the S2 subunit and the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) -- for designing their vaccine candidate.
The S2 subunit is highly conserved -- it mutates much less than the S1 subunit, which is the target of most current vaccines.
Scientists have also known that the RBD can provoke a strong immune response in the host. Therefore, the team created a hybrid protein called RS2 by combining these two components.
The researchers used mammalian cell lines to study the expression of the hybrid protein.
The team tested the effects of the protein in both mice and hamster models and found that the hybrid protein triggered a strong immune response and provided better protection when compared to vaccines containing the whole spike protein.
The RS2 antigen can also be stored at room temperature for a month without the need for cold storage, unlike many vaccines on the market which require mandatory cold storage. This would make the distribution and storage of these vaccine candidates much more economical.
Varadarajan explains that his team began working on the vaccine even before the pandemic became widespread in India.
Since 2000, Varadarajan’s team has been working on designing several viral vaccines, including those against AIDS and influenza. They have leveraged this expertise to design their current RS2-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate in collaboration with the startup Mynvax, that was, until recently, incubated at IISc.
According to the team, the vaccine candidate can be tailored to incorporate the RBD region of any new variant of SARS-CoV-2 that might emerge. Its high levels of expression and stability at room temperature can greatly reduce production and distribution costs, making it well suited for combating Covid-19.
Amidst this, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have created an AI model to predict which SARS-CoV-2 variants might lead to new waves of infection, as reported by Gadgets Now.
In the medical field, AI technology plays a crucial role. Current models predicting viral transmission so not account for the specific spread of different variants.
Here's How The MIT Team Developed This AI Model:
Led by Retsef Levi from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, they studied factors shaping viral spread by analysing 9M SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences.
These sequences were gathered by the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) from 30 countries, including vaccination and infection rates.
According to their findings published in the journal PNAS Nexus, the team used patterns from this analysis to create a machine learning-enabled risk assessment model.
This model claims to detect 72.8% of variants in each country that will cause at least 1,000 cases per million people in the next three months, as per the report.
This work establishes an analytical framework that utilises various data sources, like genetic sequences and epidemiological data, through machine learning models to provide better early signals for the spread risk of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, as stated by the researchers.
Scientists are urging further research in this direction, suggesting that a similar approach could be applied to other respiratory viruses like influenza, avian flu, or other coronavirus, as per the report.
Two new fatalities -- one each from Kerala and Karnataka -- were reported in the span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data. On Wednesday, five deaths were reported, one each from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab, two from Kerala.
The number of new Covid infections reported in the last 24 hours was 158 more compared to a day before, however, the total number of active cases marginally fell to 4,423 from Wednesday's 4,440.
The country had recorded 865 new cases on May 19, 2023.
As of now, the total number of coronavirus cases in India, since the outbreak in January 2020, has reached 4,50,15, 843.
The death toll related to Covid cases in the country has risen to 5,33,373.
The new variant, JN.1 subvariant is descendent of the Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.86 or Pirola, with Kerala being the first state to report a case.
Kerala and Karnataka continue to witness JN.1 variant cases, with other affected states being Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Telangana, Odisha, and Haryana, as per the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).
These states collectively reported 511 cases of the sub-variant by Tuesday, with Karnataka leading with 199 cases, followed by Kerala with 148 cases. INSACOG's data revealed that 239 Covid cases in December 2023, and 24 in November 2023, were identified with the presence of the JN.1 variant.
"A total of 511 cases of the JN.1 series variant have been reported from 11 states till January 2. Karnataka has reported 199 cases of the sub-variant. Kerala has reported 148 cases. 47 cases have been reported from Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 32 from Maharashtra," the health ministry has said.
The overall recovery from Covid has reached over 4.4 crore individuals, reflecting a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent.
The country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines, as per the available data.
The country had recorded 865 new cases on May 19.
Three new fatalities -- one each from Kerala, Karnataka and Bihar -- have been reported in the span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data.
As of now, the total number of coronavirus cases in India, since the outbreak in January 2020, has reached 4,50,13,272.
The death toll related to Covid cases in the country has risen to 5,33,361.
Furthermore, the country has reported a total of 145 cases of the Covid-19 subvariant JN.1 as of December 28.
These cases were detected in samples collected between November 21 and December 18. The JN.1 subvariant is derived from the Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.86 or Pirola, with Kerala being the first state to report a case.
The overall recovery from the disease has reached over 4.4 crore individuals, reflecting a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent.
The country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines as per the available data.
The country had recorded 865 new cases on May 19.
As of now, the total number of coronavirus cases in India, since the outbreak in January 2020, has reached 4,50,12,484.
The death toll related to COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 5,33,358. There were seven new fatalities reported in the last 24 hours, with three from Kerala, two from Karnataka and one each from Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.
Furthermore, the country has reported a total of 145 cases of the COVID-19 subvariant JN.1 as of December 28.
These cases were detected in samples collected between November 21 and December 18, 2023. The JN.1 subvariant is derived from the Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.86 or Pirola, with Kerala being the first state to report a case.
The overall recovery from the disease has reached over 4.4 crore individuals, reflecting a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent.
The country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines as per the available data.
Niranjan further said, “One more Covid positive case was reported in the past 24 hours. So far, 14 cases of Covid-19 infections have been reported in December. The total Covid-19 active tally in the state now stands at 13 after recovery of one positive case," said Mishra.
According to Mishra, there is no significant rise in Covid cases in the country as cases are showing a downward trend.
"It is expected that the Covid cases might see a spike and the central government has also advised us to stay prepared, we had written to hospitals to remain prepared and make necessary arrangements in the hospitals yesterday,” said Niranjan Mishra.
Mishra further informed that people should avoid crowded places and wear a mask and celebrate New Year at their home.
Capital Hospital Director Laxmidhar Sahoo said, "We are always prepared for this kind of situation. As it is not a Covid hospital, we have set up a fever clinic and instructed people to wear masks. I urge people not to show any negligence. People should maintain social distancing. Before going to any gathering, think twice if is necessary or not."
India on Friday reported 4,091 active Covid cases and five deaths, revealed data from the Union Health Ministry.
The country has also reportedly detected about 145 cases of JN.1 variant from eight states.
JN.1 has been classified as a variant of interest (VOI) by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to its rapid spread. "Till JN.1 becomes Variant of Concern (VoC), it should not bother the common man -- in fact they do not come into the picture at all," said Dr Ishwar Gilada, Consultant in Infectious Diseases Unison Medicare and Research Centre, Mumbai.
"Till it is only a VoI, it is only of interest (or if at all concern) for the scientific community and nodal ministry in governments at state and Centre," he added.
But then, what is causing the Covid- related deaths, including the death of DMDK chief Vijaykanth, in the country?
"Individuals with certain comorbidities face an elevated risk of severe outcomes and increased mortality from Covid," Dr. Vikas Chopra, Sr. Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Primus Super Speciality Hospital, told IANS.
"Common comorbidities associated with higher death risk include cardiovascular diseases like hypertension and coronary artery disease, chronic respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, obesity, and compromised immune systems," Dr. Chopra said.
Adding advanced age also to the list of risk factors, he said these comorbidities contribute to a higher likelihood of complications, respiratory distress, and organ failure in Covid patients.
"Recognising and managing these underlying health conditions is crucial in mitigating the impact of the virus and enhancing overall public health resilience," the doctor said.
Dr. Gilada also stressed the importance of pandemic preparedness, and not mere Covid preparedness.
"Genome sequencing should go on. Preparatory drills can go on. No reservation of beds required, in fact that may cause collateral damage and affect other health conditions adversely, as was during the thick of pandemic times," said Gilada, Secretary General, Organised Medicine Academic Guild-OMAG.
Though identified in August 2023 in Luxembourg and currently present in more than 40 countries, JN.1 has neither caused larger morbidity or any remarkable mortality. Deaths are only in co-morbid people globally, he said.
He also lauded the country for having managed the Covid-19 pandemic "much better than many powerful countries". "We are much better prepared now than ever before," the doctor said.
If one draws parallels between the patterns, is there any relation between the surge of Covid-19 infections and the month December? Several studies have pointed out that the cold and dry condition provides a habitat to the Covid-19 virus. Even study published by Journal Nature analyzed that weather conditions affect the rate of spread of Covid-19 infection. Several studies also suggest that the cold weather gives stability to the virus to evolve in the winter season. Researchers at China’s Sichuan International Studies University also second the hypothesis. In addition to this, the holiday season also witnesses increased social gathering and international travel. Thus, the Covid variants find more carrier options. Meanwhile, experts have stated that there is no need to panic but they also stressed upon usage of face mask, vaccination and sanitization.
All eight Covid patients have been detected in the state in the last eight days.
Speaking on the new cases, Public Health director Niranjan Mishra said, "In the last 24 hours, 690 samples have been tested of which only three found positive. All active cases are in home isolation. Positive patients are not showing any critical symptoms. There is nothing to panic."
(This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.)
The death toll due to the viral disease was recorded at 5,33,337 with three new fatalities reported from Karnataka in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.
India's Covid case tally currently stands at 4,50,09,660.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,72,153 and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry's website.
The case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent.
According to the website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered in the country. PTI PLB.
The spike in Covid-19 cases came amid a rise in sub-variant JN.1 cases across the country.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as many as 4,054 active Covid-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours compared to 3,742 on Sunday, the data updated on Monday said.
The Health Ministry said that one death was reported from Kerala on Monday, where the Covid sub-variant JN.1 was first detected, pushing the nationwide death toll to 5,33,334.
The cases of Covid have been on rise in India in the last few weeks.
Centre and states have sounded alarm over the new JN.1 Covid variant.
The cases of this new variant have been found not only in India but also in other countries like Singapore and England.
The Health and Family Welfare Department on Saturday informed that elderly people and those with co-morbidities have been advised to weak facemask while going out. The information was shared by the Health and Family Welfare Department on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle.
In its tweet, the Health department also advised the elderly people and those with co-morbidities to avoid visiting crowded places as well.
It is pertinent to mention here that Odisha reported one Covid-19 positive case in the past 24 hours. It is after a gap of 20 days that the Covid-19 infection case has been reported in the state.
With the cases of new JN.1 variant of Covid being reported in several other states in the country, concerns are being expressed over a spike in Covid cases. However, experts say that it is time to remain alert even though the cases with the new JN.1 variant are mild.
“Whatever decision has been taken by the Odisha government is appropriate for the specialised category of people as it has been seen in other countries that vulnerable groups are being hospitalised after getting affected by the new variant. Apart from facemasks, hand hygiene is also highly required,” said Health expert, Niraj Mishra.
In the latest epidemiological update on Friday, the UN health body reported over 850,000 new cases worldwide in the 28-day period from November 20 to December 17.
The number of new deaths decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 3,000 new fatalities reported. As of December 17, over 772 million confirmed cases and nearly seven million deaths have been reported globally.
During the period from November 13 to December 10, over 118,000 new Covid hospitalisations and over 1,600 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions have been recorded with an overall increase of 23 per cent and 51 per cent respectively amongst the countries reporting consistently within the current and past reporting periods.
The WHO last week designated JN.1, a sub-lineage of BA.2.86 Omicron variant, as a separate variant of interest (VOI) apart from its parent lineage BA.2.86 due to its rapid increase in prevalence in recent weeks.
However, EG.5 remains to be the most reported VOI globally.
At the global level, during the past 28 days, a total of 118,958 new hospitalisations and 1,610 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions were reported from 58 and 36 countries, respectively.
The South-East Asia Region reported over 9,200 new cases, a 388 per cent increase as compared to the previous 28-day period.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported from Indonesia (3,725), followed by India (3,241) and Thailand (2,120).
The number of new 28-day deaths in the Region increased by 317 per cent as compared to the previous 28-day period, with 50 new deaths reported.
The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from India (21 new deaths), Thailand (16 new deaths) and Indonesia (12 new deaths).
The WHO emphasised that current vaccines continue to provide protection against severe disease and death from the JN.1 variant and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2. The organisation is closely monitoring the evidence and will update the risk evaluation of JN.1 as needed.
To mitigate the spread of these respiratory illnesses, the WHO advised individuals to adopt preventive measures, including wearing masks in crowded or poorly ventilated areas, maintaining a safe distance, practising respiratory etiquette, regular hand hygiene, and getting tested for Covid or influenza if symptoms arise or after exposure.
As per official data, the Covid-19 positive case has been detected after a brief gap of 20 days. The last positive case of Covid-19 infection in the state was reported on December 3, 2023.
Health expert, Dr Surya Prakash Choudhry said, “People need to be cautious as usually there is detection of new Covid-19 variant during this part of season between December and January. It appears that next four to six weeks are crucial for everybody.” "Whenever any variant is reported, the infection usually peaks in several parts of the country, said Choudhry.
“Even though cases of infections might rise, there is no need to panic as all people are vaccinated. The data from Singapore and USA suggest that cases spike but the symptoms are mild. One new symptom is stomach-related disorder. People above 60 and above and other disease need to remain alert. We need to switch to the use of masks and follow appropriate Covid protocols as there is the possibility of restricting visiting crowded places during the festive season,” said Choudhry.
Choudhry further said that there might be no major peak or wave of Covid cases, the cases of infections are likely to increase in different parts of the country.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has so far reported three new COVID-related deaths, one in Karnataka and two in Kerala.
Globally, US, Singapore and Malaysia have also witnessed a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases, prompting the World Health Organization to classify JN.1 as a "variant of interest."
“Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low. Despite this, with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries. Current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19," wrote WHO on X.
NEW: #COVID19 variant of interest JN.1
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 19, 2023
Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying the variant JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages.
Based on the available… pic.twitter.com/lvyd3sq1f7
JN.1, a descendant of the Pirola variant (BA.2.86), originating from Omicron, exhibits mutations in the spike protein that may enhance infectivity and immune system evasion.
Symptoms align with previous strains, including fever, runny nose, sore throat, headache, and mild abdominal pain, with an increased prevalence of gastrointestinal issues.
Despite concerns about JN.1's transmissibility, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reassures that, so far, it doesn't pose a greater risk compared to prior variants. The subvariant is not necessarily linked to severe illness or increased hospitalisations.
Experts advocate protective measures: vaccination, mask-wearing in crowded places, hygiene practices, limited exposure to potentially infected individuals, and prompt testing for symptomatic individuals.
The emphasis on vaccination as a preventive measure remains crucial in managing the impact of emerging variants.
The Odisha government is closely monitoring the developments and necessary guidelines might be issued in this regard, said Health Director Bijay Mohapatra.
According to Mohapatra, the new variant JN.1 has not been detected in Odisha so far. Appropriate steps will be taken for genome sequencing, if any case of the new Covid sub-variant is detected in the state, he said.
“As per the experts, the symptoms of the new sub variant are almost common like other respiratory viruses. As per Centre’s guidelines, adequate preventive measures should be taken. We have not stopped surveillance of symptomatic cases in the state,” said Mohapatra.
The existing protocol for testing of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases remains valid for all states as per the Centre’s guidelines.
“At present, we have all the requisite logistics for testing and treatment in the state. Earlier, guidelines were issued for isolation beds and fever clinics and these are continuing in the state. As picnic season is on, people having flu like symptoms or fever should avoid attending congregations to prevent any spread. Importantly, they should get themselves tested,” Mohapatra added.
Highlighting the need for maintaining constant vigil over the COVID situation in the country, Union Health Secretary, Sudhansh Pant shot off a letter to States/UTs.
Pant underlined that “due to consistent and collaborative actions between Centre and State Governments, we have been able to sustain the trajectory at sustainable low rates. However, as the COVID-19 virus continues to circulate and its epidemiology behaviour gets settled with Indian weather conditions and circulation of other usual pathogens, it is important to keep the momentum going to effectively deal with the challenges in public health, reported PIB.
Considering the upcoming festive season, States were advised to put in place requisite public health measures and other arrangements to minimize risk of increase in transmission of the disease by adherence to maintenance of respiratory hygiene.
States asked to monitor and report District-wise Influenza-like Illness (ILI) & Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis including in the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal, for detecting the early rising trend of cases.
States were advised to ensure adequate testing in all the districts as per Covid-19 testing guidelines and maintain the recommended share of RT-PCR and Antigen tests.
States were encouraged to increase number of RT-PCR tests and send positive samples for genome sequencing to Indian SARS COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories so as to enable timely detection of new variants, if any, in the country.
The country's COVID-19 case tally stands at 4,50,03,055 (4.50 crore) and the death toll at 5,33,306 (5.33 lakh), the data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,68,854 (4.44 crore) and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, it showed.
The case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the country so far.
IAS Mudita worked as a doctor to help patients during the pandemic after Covid-19 struck the world. The brilliant mind has secured an All India Rank (AIR)-381 in the UPSC Civil Services Exam in 2022 and is currently serving as Indian Defence Accounts Service Officer.
Mudita originally hails from the small town of Merta in Rajasthan. While her father is the principal of a government school, her mother is a housewife. Mudita has five siblings and all of them were raised with high value for education, a report in DNA India stated.
She has been good in academics since childhood and was among the toppers in the Rajasthan Class 10 Boards although she studied in a government school. For her Class 11 and 12, she continued her education at the government school.
She successfully cracked NEET and pursued a degree in MBBS from SN Medical College, Jodhpur. After completing her MBBS, she started her medical career by working in a private hospital in Jaipur. However, she knew her inner calling was to become an IAS officer.
However, inner calling compelled her to make a momentous life decision. Mid-way, she left her medical practice to start her journey towards her childhood dream of IAS. She prepared diligently and studied for hours until Covid-19 pandemic.
Unable to bear the condition of Covid-19 patients, she left her preparations again and worked as a doctor to contribute during the crisis. She risked her own life all throughout the pandemic to help the patients, reported DNA India.
Later, she resumed her preparations and joined a coaching institute in Delhi. Her hard work paid off and she secured an AIR-381 on her first attempt to become an IAS officer.
The death toll has been recorded at 5,32,038, the data updated at 8 am stated. The country's Covid case tally is 4.49 crore (4,49,99,765). The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,67,425 and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry's website.
The case fatality rate stands at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far.
With 2,257 cases being recorded daily, the UK is currently seeing a fresh rise in Covid-19 infections.
The related-hospitalisation is also at a five-month high -- 3,366 patients, the UK Health Security Agency (HSA) report said.
Yet they are still far below levels seen during the pandemic. Covid is "well on the way" to becoming seasonal, Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious-diseases expert at the University of East Anglia was quoted as saying by the BBC.
Prof Hunter said that flu is likely to cause more deaths from now on, while Covid will eventually become "just another cause of the common cold", like the other coronaviruses that circulate.
During the winter of 2022, there were estimated to be more flu deaths than Covid ones in England -- just over 14,000 compared with 10,000, the UK, HSA said.
The immunity to serious illness built up from vaccination and infection means the death rate per Covid infection is now well below that of flu, Prof Hunter said.
However, Prof Adam Kucharski, who advised the government during the pandemic, agrees there are positive signs but remains a little more cautious, the BBC reported.
"We are seeing hints of seasonality but I wouldn't say we're definitely there," Prof Kucharski was quoted as saying. He pointed out there is still much more data on Covid than other respiratory viruses.
Meanwhile, the UKHSA has warned people in the country to brace for another bout of infections due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus this winter.
The agency maintained that cases will “further increase” as the season progresses, along with other “winter respiratory viruses like flu”.
Prof Mike Tildesley, a modeller in infectious diseases, from the University of Warwick, said Covid could still end up causing more deaths than flu this winter, BBC reported. "There was quite a rebound for flu last year," he said, "partly because immunity was down following a few years of not much flu circulating - so we may see the picture change this winter."
The fresh cases are reportedly due to the new variant nicknamed BA.2.86, dubbed as Pirola.
The variant has led to a five-month high spike in hospitalisations (3,366 patients) in England in the week ending October 6 -- the highest figure since mid-April.
According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the cases will "further increase" as the season progresses, along with other "winter respiratory viruses like flu".
"This week's surveillance indicates a slight increase in Covid infection rates. As we enter the colder months and people begin to mix more indoors, we expect to see further increases in Covid," said Mary Ramsay, UKHSA's director of public health programmes, in a statement.
"We are monitoring rates closely and reminding people that when you have respiratory symptoms you should avoid mixing with others, especially those more vulnerable," Ramsay said.
While current hospitalisation due to Covid has increased, they are still far below levels seen during the pandemic.
The latest report by UKHSA showed that an average of 2,257 Covid cases are being recorded each day in England.
Meanwhile, the country has also rolled out vaccine boosters, for the elderly and vulnerable.
The UKHSA said 3.9 million over-65s in England (35.3 per cent) have been jabbed so far. The jab is being offered with the seasonal flu vaccine to maximise vulnerable people protection from both pathogens during the winter season.
Ramsay urged those eligible to take up the jabs.
"We strongly urge parents and all those eligible, for either or both Covid and flu vaccines, to book today with the NHS or via their GP surgery as soon as possible," she said.
It's not that kids don't get infected. They do. More than 90 per cent of kids age 4 and under in the US test positive for previous or current infection by SARS-CoV-2.
Yet, although kids under 5 represent about 6 per cent of the US population, they account for fewer than 0.1 per cent of Covid deaths in this country.
“For almost every infectious disease, the most vulnerable populations are at the extremes of age -- the very young and the very old,” said Bali Pulendran, professor of microbiology and immunology and of pathology at Stanford University.
“But with Covid-19, the young are spared while the old are emphatically not. That’s been a mystery.”
Possible explanations included that young children seem to harbour fewer receptors for SARS-CoV-2 on their cell surfaces.
They’ve had more relatively recent encounters with benign coronaviruses than adults (the latter being less inclined to gum one another’s toys in day care settings or sneeze in each other’s face), bolstering immunity to newcomers.
There’s evidence for these and other hypotheses. But much of the solution to the mystery Covid poses may reside inside little kids’ noses, the researchers said.
For the study, published in the journal Cell, the Stanford team collaborated with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and collected nasal and blood samples from 54 infants who’d become infected with SARS-CoV-2 before reaching age 2, and from 27 other children who’d tested negative throughout the observation period.
For comparison, the researchers obtained similar samples from several dozen adults.
All infected children in the study were, at most, mildly symptomatic.
In the blood of SARS-CoV-2-infected adults, SARS-specific antibody levels rose quickly to a robust peak, then dropped off precipitously, declining by 10-fold within six months.
Infants’ blood-borne antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were a little slower to spike upward in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. But in stark contrast to adults, their antibody levels never dropped -- they either plateaued at a high level or kept on rising throughout the 300-day observation period, eventually rivaling those of the adults at peak.
“In no case did we see a decline,” Pulendran said. “This was completely unexpected.”
The kids’ antibodies, he noted, tended to be somewhat narrow spectrum: highly effective against the original invading variant, but providing less protection against other SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Another difference: In the blood of adults with even mild Covid-19 cases, there was a big increase in levels of a number of inflammation-promoting signaling proteins, previously shown to be associated with more-severe symptoms. In infected kids’ blood, this increase wasn’t seen.
In kids noses, though, it was another story.
“In the mucous membranes of the nasal cavity, we saw plenty of these very inflammation-promoting proteins,” Pulendran said. Among them was one called alpha-interferon, which has a noted knack for shutting down viral replication in infected cells.
Also absent in kids’ blood, but relatively abundant in the mucous membranes of their noses, was an immune molecule that calls in the thugs: That is, it recruits all-purpose pugnacious immune-cell buddies known as neutrophils to the area.
This big overall dichotomy between what’s going on in infected infants’ blood versus in their noses indicates to Pulendran that “the virus may be getting nipped in the bud in the nasal tracts,” which have a rapid, surprisingly effective immune response to a SARS-CoV-2 infection and deny the virus a launch pad for its spread to the lungs.
Pulendran envisions, for example, a nasal spray that could be given every couple of months to stimulate in adults’ upper respiratory tracts the same immune-response capabilities that infants routinely have in theirs, and prevent the virus from getting a foothold.
Nishant Patel, 41, Harjeet Singh, 49, and three others engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the SBA and certain SBA-approved PPP lenders by submitting false and fraudulent PPP loan applications, a Department of Justice statement said on Monday.
All five defendants also assisted in laundering the fraudulently obtained PPP loan funds by supplying the co-conspirators with blank, endorsed checks, which were made payable to people posing as employees of the companies that received the PPP loan, but who were in fact not employees.
These fake paychecks were then cashed at the check cashing stores that other members of the conspiracy controlled, according to court documents.
As part of the scheme, Patel obtained a false and fraudulent PPP loan in the amount of nearly $474,993 and Singh obtained two false and fraudulent PPP loans for a total of nearly $937,379.
The total amount obtained by the other three amounted to more than $1.4 million in total.
All five of them pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and are scheduled to be sentenced on January 4, 2024.
They face a total maximum penalty of five years in prison.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
In addition to these five defendants, one other individual was convicted at trial for his involvement in the scheme, and 15 other individuals have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the loan fraud scheme.
The study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans showed that lung abnormalities were significantly the highest – almost 14-fold -- among patients discharged from hospital for Covid than in the control group.
The abnormal findings involving the brain and kidneys were three and two times higher respectively.
The extent of abnormalities on MRI was often influenced by the severity of the Covid infection the patients had experienced and their age, as well as comorbidities.
"We found that nearly one in three patients had an excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities on MRI relative to controls," said Dr Betty Raman, University of Oxford’s Radcliffe Department of Medicine.
The findings come from a multi-centre MRI follow-up study of 500 post-hospitalised Covid patients. The paper presents the results of an interim analysis of 259 post-hospitalised Covid-19 patients and 52 controls.
The participants, who were recruited across 13 sites in the UK, underwent MRI scans covering the heart, brain, lungs, liver and kidneys an average of five months after discharge from hospital. They also had blood tests and completed questionnaires.
The study found that while some organ-specific symptoms correlated with the imaging evidence of organ injury -- for example, chest tightness and cough with lung MRI abnormalities -- not all symptoms could be directly linked to MRI-detected anomalies.
The levels of damage to the heart and liver in the former hospitalised Covid patients were similar to those in the control group.
The paper also confirmed that multi-organ MRI abnormalities were more common among post-hospitalised patients who reported severely impaired physical and mental health after Covid.
In addition, Raman said that people with multiorgan pathology on MRI -- that is, they had more than two organs affected -- were four times also more likely to report severe and very severe mental and physical impairment.
"Our findings also highlight the need for longer term multidisciplinary follow-up services focused on pulmonary and extrapulmonary health (kidneys, brain and mental health), particularly for those hospitalised for Covid-19," she noted.
The observational study, published in Nature Communications, showed that pre-pandemic conditions related to psychological, respiratory, and general/unspecified health problems were the strongest predictors for having a doctor-diagnosed post-Covid problems between 90 and 180 days after the initial infection.
It also showed that women, and individuals infected by the original (first) virus variant, had a higher risk of post-Covid complaints. There was no strong or clear social gradient in the prevalence of the post-covid. When accounting for virus type, vaccination was not significantly associated with the post-Covid condition, said researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway.
"These findings imply that individuals who prior to the pandemic had a psychological diagnosis were approximately twice as likely to be classified with the post-Covid condition, compared to infected individuals without such prior diagnoses,” the researchers said.
The study included health data from 214,667 SARS-CoV-2–infected individuals who were diagnosed with the virus from July 1, 2020, to January 24, 2022. The mean age was 44.6 years, and 50 per cent were women.
A total of 0.42 per cent (908) were diagnosed as having post-Covid condition (PCC).
Twenty-one per cent had PCC-related respiratory problems, and 60 per cent said they experienced fatigue.
The strongest association for developing PCC was female sex and infection with the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain.
The total caseload rose to 4,49,97,642 with addition of the fresh cases, as per the latest update by the Ministry.
According to the Health Ministry, 64 people have recuperated from the disease, taking the total tally to 4,44,65,138.
The death toll rose to 5,32,025 as one more succumbed to the virus. Active cases stands at 479.
Over 220.67 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered so far.
The study, published in the Nature Communications, showed that white-tailed deer across Ohio, US, have increasingly been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Scientists collected 1,522 nasal swabs from free-ranging deer in 83 of the state’s 88 counties between November 2021 and March 2022.
More than 10 per cent of the samples were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and at least one positive case was found in 59 per cent of the counties in which testing took place.
“We generally talk about interspecies transmission as a rare event, but this wasn’t a huge sampling, and we’re able to document 30 spillovers. It seems to be moving between people and animals quite easily,” said Andrew Bowman, associate professor of veterinary preventive medicine at The Ohio State University.
“And the evidence is growing that humans can get it from deer -- which isn’t radically surprising. It’s probably not a one-way pipeline,” he added. However, no substantial outbreaks of deer-origin strains have occurred in humans.
How the virus is transmitted from humans to white-tailed deer remains a mystery. Yet the combined findings suggest that the white-tailed deer species is a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 that enables continuing mutation, and that the virus’ circulation in deer could lead to its spread to other wildlife and livestock.
Beyond the detection of active infections, researchers also found through blood samples containing antibodies -- indicating previous exposure to the virus -- that an estimated 23.5 per cent of deer in Ohio had been infected at one time or another.
The 80 whole-genome sequences obtained from the collected samples represented groups of viral variants: the highly contagious delta variant and alpha.
The analysis revealed that the genetic composition of delta variants in deer matched dominant lineages found in humans at the time, pointing to the spillover events, and that deer-to-deer transmission followed in clusters, some spanning multiple counties.
The study also suggested that Covid-19 vaccination is likely to help protect people against severe disease in the event of a spillover back to humans. An analysis of the effects of deer variants on Siberian hamsters, an animal model for SARS-CoV-2 studies, showed that vaccinated hamsters did not get as sick from infection as unvaccinated animals.
Thus, the variants circulating in deer are expected to continue to change. An investigation of the mutations found in the samples provided evidence of more rapid evolution of both alpha and delta variants in deer compared to humans.
“Not only are deer getting infected with and maintaining SARS-CoV-2, but the rate of change is accelerated in deer --potentially away from what has infected humans,” Bowman said.Covid variants can evolve 3x faster in deer than in humans: Study
BA.2.86, known to be highly mutated, has been linked to 6 cases in 4 countries: Israel, Denmark, the UK and the US. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring (VUM).
EG. 5.1 is currently present in 55 countries and has also been designated by the WHO as a “variant of interest” (VOI).
“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date. We haven't witnessed anything new as far as symptomatology is concerned, but many suspected Covid patients are getting negative RT-PCR tests,” Dr Vidya S Nair, Senior Consultant & HOD unit 2 - Pulmonology at Marengo Asia Hospitals, Faridabad, told IANS.
“BA.2.86 will not pose any danger to India, because India has been having Omicron since last almost 20 months,” added epidemiologist Dr Ishwar Gilada at the 55th Seminars on International Planetary Emergencies at Erice, Sicily, Italy, citing BA.2 and BA.4.
He noted that India has an edge over the two new variants, as the country has “since the beginning got good immunity so it will not affect India adversely”.
Although there has been slight uptick in cases, Dr Gilada said the variants are not giving rise to any kind of oxygen demand, demand for bed ICU ventilators and deaths are very, very low.
The WHO, meanwhile, said that “based on the available evidence, the public health risk posed by EG.5 has been evaluated as low and it is similar to other circulating variants of interest”.
For BA.2.86, the global health agency said that the information is “limited”. “To date, there is no evidence of significant changes in the public health impact of these sub-lineages and there is no justification for the assignment of a new ‘variant of concern’, the WHO added.
"It is indeed too early to draw sweeping conclusions about the BA 2.86 Covid variant. While it has made its presence known, we do not have sufficient data to assert whether it is more infectious than its predecessors. According to the reported cases, most of its symptoms are that of the flu variant, just like the EG.5.1 variant, the symptoms of Covid variant BA 2.86 are similar to that of the flu-like cold, cough, lethargicness, myalgia, fever etc,” Dr. Tribhuvan Gulati, Lead Consultant, Diabetes, Obesity & Internal Medicine at the CK Birla Hospital, told IANS.
On Monday, senior officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) held a high-level meeting to review the global and national Covid situation, newer variants in circulation and their public health impact.
It was highlighted that while globally a total of 2,96,219 new cases of Covid were reported in the past seven days, India, which contributes to nearly 17 per cent of global population, reported only 223 cases (0.075 per cent of global new cases) in the past week.
It was informed that the daily average of new cases continues to be below 50 from the entire country, with a weekly test positivity rate of less than 0.2 per cent.
“New variants will keep on coming and we should keep on monitoring. However, there should be no cause of concern till the trajectory doesn't say that people can get into a requirement of bed or hospitalisation or it was a kind of serious illness. So long as that is not the case. I think we should keep on monitoring,” said Dr. Gilada.
“We should not be worried. We have natural immunity because of the infection to earlier variants or variants. We have been vaccinated and when we have been vaccinated and having natural immunity and also called hybrid immunity which is more divinities we also have our memory cells in us which are which get activated as soon as the attack from similar virus or organism comes and was memory cells are activated that we have our own defence system so I think we should understand those things,” he said.
Dr Rahul Pandit, Chair, critical care, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai told IANS “we really don't know whether the mutation which has, has got any implications on its infectivity, or its severity. So I think as of now, we don't need to be panicking in India at all, there is no case detected in India as of now”.
The new variant has been linked to six cases in four countries -- Israel, Denmark, the UK and the US, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring.
The lineage seems to be descended from an Omicron sub-variant called BA.2, which caused large case spikes in early 2022.
In India, amid the detection of certain new variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus, senior officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) earlier this week held a review meeting to take stock of the situation.
According to a Nature report, although the lineage seems to be exceedingly rare, "it is very different from other circulating variants and carries numerous changes to its spike protein, a key focus of the body's immune attack on the SARS-CoV-2 virus".
"Almost certainly there are going to be other cases that will start popping up," said Adam Lauring, a virologist and infectious-disease physician at the University of Michigan in the US, whose lab identified one person infected with BA.2.86.
"There's good reason to think it won't be like the Omicron wave, but it's early days," Lauring added.
Large numbers of spike mutations have been observed in people with long-term SARS-CoV-2 infections, and it is likely that BA.2.86 also emerged from one such chronic infection, according to Jesse Bloom, a viral evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington.
Many of BA.2.86's changes are in regions of the spike protein targeted by the body's potent infection-blocking, or neutralising antibodies.
"For this reason, there is a good chance that the variant will be able to escape some of the neutralising antibodies triggered by previous infections and vaccine boosters," the Nature report noted.
Another feature of BA.2.86 is its geographical distribution. None of the cases seem to be linked, which suggests that variant may already be fairly widespread.
After Omicron appeared, SARS-CoV-2 evolution began to follow a somewhat predictable course: successful new variants emerged from circulating lineages after gaining a few key mutations that enabled their spread.
BA.2.86, by contrast, is drastically different from other widespread coronavirus variants, reminiscent of Omicron and early pandemic variants including Alpha and Delta.
"Just like Omicron was a little out of left field, this BA.2.86 is little out of left field," said Ashish Jha, a public-health researcher at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
"There is enough here to get us all to start paying attention," said Jha, also the former White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator.
The WHO has designated Covid-19 variant BA.2.86 as a 'variant under monitoring' due to the large number of mutations it carries, adding that "the number of mutations warrants attention".
A team from the ICMR’s National Clinical Registry for Covid evaluated factors related to post-discharge mortality during the first year after Covid in 14,419 participants.
The findings showed that men, adults over 40, people with comorbidities, and those with moderate-severe Covid disease were all more at risk for death within one year after discharge.
“Similar trends were seen in the participants in the 18-45 years age group,” the study said.
Of the 14,419 participants, 942 (6.5 per cent) suffered from all-cause mortality, it added.
However, the researchers stated that the findings relate to patients who had been hospitalised during their initial Covid infection and cannot be generalised to all patients.
The ICMR is also conducting other studies to understand the unusual spike in “sudden deaths” among young people post the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We are studying sudden deaths. There are four studies going on. We will get the results soon and will let everyone know as we are continuing to look at it from different angles whether there is an increase in the number of deaths," Rajiv Bahl, ICMR Director General (DG), had told IANS in June.
He said that "we are trying to see what are potential causes" and the ICMR is awaiting a peer review of the findings before making the assessment public.
Bahl added that the people who died are considered to be 'cases' and those who survived are considered 'controls'.
"There is a design which is called case control study. In case control, the deaths are due to heart attack. In this all factors are seen, the age, morbidity, habits and how did they get Covid-infected, whether it was severe Covid, did they take Covid vaccine or not, and many other factors are seen," the DG said.
At the outset of the Covid pandemic, men appeared to suffer higher rates of severe illness and death, leading researchers to suspect a link between androgen receptors -- which bind to hormones like testosterone -- and SARS-CoV-2 viral infection.
This observation spurred researchers from the University of Michigan to look into a drug in development to treat prostate cancer called proxalutamide, which works by blocking an enzyme called TMPRSS2 (transmembrane protease, serine 2) that is regulated by androgen receptors, as a potential therapeutic for Covid.
"We were already studying TMPRSS2 as part of the key gene driver of over 50 per cent of prostate cancer, so it made sense to look at it as TMPRSS2 is an important host factor for SARS-CoV2 to enter cells in the lung," said Arul Chinnaiyan, director of the Michigan Centre for Translational Pathology and Professor of Pathology.
In the study, published in the journal PNAS, the team added proxalutamide to cells infected with SARS-Co-V2 to monitor its ability to block viral entry.
The compound works by binding to androgen receptors, inhibiting levels of TMPRSS2 and ACE2, and blocking infection.
Proxalutamide also worked better than other prostate cancer drugs against multiple variants of SARS-CoV2 due to its ability to break down the androgen receptor.
In addition, proxalutamide, when combined with the US FDA-approved Covid drug remdesivir, blocked infection by 100 per cent.
"This discovery underscores the utility of testing existing drugs for new applications that can be rapidly evaluated in humans to shorten the timeline from discovery to clinical evaluation," said Jonathan Sexton, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University.
Buoyed by their in vitro results, the team looked to see whether the compound could stop the so-called cytokine storm, or severe inflammatory response, caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Using a mouse model, they demonstrated that the drug reduced inflammation and cell death in the lungs of mice and reduced mortality.
"The thought is that proxalutamide could work as a combined therapy with remdesivir, hitting the virus from multiple angles, much as combination therapy works so well for HIV infection," Chinnaiyan said.
The drug is currently in phase 3 clinical trials for prostate cancer and early clinical trials for Covid.
New research, published in the Lancet and authored by Sivan at the University of Leeds in the UK, focuses on the case of one 33-year man who developed acrocyanosis -- venous pooling of blood in the legs.
A minute after standing, the patient's legs began to redden and became increasingly blue over time, with veins becoming more prominent.
After 10 minutes the colour was much more pronounced, with the patient describing a heavy, itchy sensation in his legs. His original colour returned two minutes after he returned to a non-standing position.
The patient said he had started to experience discolouration since his Covid-19 infection.
He was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that causes an abnormal increase in heart rate on standing.
"This was a striking case of acrocyanosis in a patient who had not experienced it before his Covid-19 infection,” said Dr Sivan, Associate Clinical Professor and Honorary Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine.
"Patients experiencing this may not be aware that it can be a symptom of Long Covid and dysautonomia and may feel concerned about what they are seeing. Similarly, clinicians may not be aware of the link between acrocyanosis and Long Covid,” he added.
Long Covid affects multiple systems in the body and has an array of symptoms, affecting patients’ ability to perform daily activities.
The condition also affects the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for regulating blood pressure and heart rate.
Previous research by Sivan's team has shown that both dysautonomia and POTS frequently develop in people with Long Covid.
“We need more awareness about dysautonomia in long term conditions, more effective assessment and management approaches, and further research into the syndrome. This will enable both patients and clinicians to better manage these conditions,” said Dr Sivan.
The deceased was a 75-year-old Mumbai resident who suffered from liver carcinoma. While the individual was diagnosed with Covid-19, authorities have stated that the virus was not the primary cause of his death.
Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 10 new Covid cases, elevating the total infection count to 11,64,108, while the latest death took the overall fatality figures to 19,776. This is the second time in August that the city has reported Covid cases in double digits; the previous instance occurred on August 6.
Recovery rates continue to inspire confidence, with four more patients recuperating from the illness, taking the total number of recoveries to 11,44,285. Currently, Mumbai has 47 active cases. A total of 292 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, raising the cumulative test count to 1,89,17,951, as per the civic body's bulletin.
Though there are indications of an increase in Covid cases in Maharashtra due to the new Omicron sub-variant, EG.5.1, detected in some samples, health experts have emphasised that there is no cause for immediate concern. No significant surge has been noted since the detection of this sub-variant.
The state health department said that it would be premature to attribute the rise in cases to the new sub-variant. The situation will be carefully monitored over the coming week to reach a more conclusive understanding, as all respiratory infections typically show a surge during June to September.
With the rise in lifestyle diseases, it is the medical expertise and support of the doctors that help people continue with their lives like everything is normal.
While earlier therapeutics and holistic healers were looked up to with reverence in the last few decades, medicine is treated like a lucrative profession that can make you wealthy and give you status in society.
Things changed during the Corona pandemic when the doctors pulled up all their gears to fight one of the deadliest infections on earth. COVID-19 changed everything and from their cabins and operation theaters, the doctors had to come out in the open to fight this disease as frontline warriors.
Similar to the soldiers fighting it out on the borders, the doctors fought the Corona disease in the hospitals. Many doctors, nurses, and surgeons contracted infections despite taking all the precautions.
Vaccines came much later and even after that doctors and healthcare givers lost lives saving people. They worked round the clock and in multiple shifts because there was a crisis of health workers.
Thousands of people died across the world and even today Corona continues to affect many countries. And those were the days when doctors and health caregivers went out of their way, risked their lives, and saved millions of people.
Many doctors succumbed to COVID but that did not deter other fellow doctors from continuing their service to humanity.
That is when humanity realised how important doctors are for living a good life. The COVID pandemic proved that there are doctors out there who are ready to give their sweat, brain, and even life to save their patients.
The television channel had aired an audio conversation between two people in August 2020. One of the persons, who claimed (in the clip) to have returned from a Covid hospital after recovery, undermined the disease saying it would be cured without treatment and medicines.
In this regard, the BMC authorities had lodged a complaint against the Input Editor of OTV, Swadheen Kumar Raut, at the Capital Police station in Bhubaneswar, alleging that the telecast and circulation of the audio was dissuading the public from availing the requisite treatment thereby causing an increase in the spread of Covid. The police had registered a case under sections 269, 270, 505 (b), 120 (b) of IPC and Section 3 of the Epidemic Disease Act.
Following this, the Input Editor filed a petition under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1972, (CrPC) before the High Court seeking the quashing of the criminal proceeding pending in the court of SDJM, Bhubaneswar.
While hearing the petition filed about three years ago, the High Court quashed the case.
Quashing the case against the journalist, Orissa HC Chief Justice S Muralidhar said that no prima facie case can be made against Raut either under the Indian Penal Code or the Disaster Management Act because the conversation between the two people in the clip which was aired by the TV channel appeared to be a casual one not intended to cause panic.
“Indeed the conversation appears to be a casual one not intended to cause panic in the public. It is highly unlikely that this one conversation would somehow induce the public to avoid treatment for Covid thus resulting in the spread of the pandemic and much less still induce the public to commit offences against the State,’ observed the court.
“The court is of the view that that the continuation of such criminal case against the Petitioner, who is an Input Editor of OTV is likely to have a chilling effect on press freedom,” the court further observed.
“For the aforementioned reasons, the criminal proceedings in G.R. Case No.3245 of 2020 pending in the court of S.D.J.M./ Bhubaneswar and all proceedings consequent thereto are hereby quashed,” ruled the court while quashing the August 2020 FIR.
Notably, while hearing the case, the court quoted the 2020 Supreme Court judgment in Arnab Goswami and Union of India case which read, “The exercise of journalistic freedom lies at the core of speech and expression protected by Article 19(1)(a). The petitioner is a media journalist. The airing of views on television shows which he hosts is in the exercise of his fundamental right to speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). India’s freedoms will rest safe as long as journalists can speak truth to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal. The exercise of that fundamental right is not absolute and is answerable to the legal regime enacted with reference to the provisions of Article 19(2).”
“But to allow a journalist to be subjected to multiple complaints and to the pursuit of remedies traversing multiple states and jurisdictions when faced with successive FIRs and complaints bearing the same foundation has a stifling effect on the exercise of that freedom. This will effectively destroy the freedom of the citizen to know of the affairs of governance in the nation and the right of the journalist to ensure an informed society,” the apex court had further said.
Senior advocate Manas Chand termed the judgment as historic. “The Chief Justice says no prima facie case can be made against Raut. This means the case was lodged intentionally without any valid reason. With this historic judgment, the prestige of the Press will definitely increase,” said Chand.
Terming the judgment as the victory of the Press, senior journalist Prasanna Mohanty said, “It can definitely be said as a big victory of the Press. It is a historic one, coming in favour of the Press. In the future, if any police officer or administrative officer tries to suppress the voice of the Press, the High Court will definitely act against the move.”
When contacted BMC Mayor Sulochana Das said, “I don’t have any information regarding the judgment. We will look into it once we get information.”
In an interview conducted by Chinese-born human rights activist and author Jennifer Zeng, Chao Shao claimed that the researchers were tasked with identifying the most effective strain for spreading among various species, including people, Jerusalem Post reported.
Chao Shao also shared an incident involving another researcher at the institute named Shan Chao, who admitted to being provided with four strains of coronavirus by a superior to test and determine which one had the greatest potential to infect multiple species, including humans.
Chao Shao mentioned that several of his colleagues were sent to hotels accommodating athletes during the 2019 Military World Games held in Wuhan in the pretext of "checking the health or hygiene conditions".
However, Chao Shao suspected they were potentially involved in spreading the virus.
Chao Shao also emphasised that the information represented only a fraction of the entire puzzle, the report said.
The true origin of the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of 7 million lives worldwide, remains a subject of ongoing investigation. The recent revelations by the newly declassified intelligence report by the US government on the origins of Covid-19 also did not confirm whether the pandemic was the result of a lab leak or the virus jumped into people from an infected animal.
“All agencies continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection,” said the long-anticipated declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Importantly, almost all intelligence agencies “assess that SARS-CoV-2 was not genetically engineered”, the report said.
“Most agencies assess that SARS-CoV-2 was not laboratory-adapted; some are unable to make a determination. All intelligence community agencies assess that SARS-CoV-2 was not developed as a biological weapon,” it added.
The report acknowledged the research conducted at the lab, including on animal sampling and genetic analysis.
“We continue to have no indication that the WIV’s pre-pandemic research holdings included SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor, nor any direct evidence that a specific research-related incident occurred involving WIV personnel before the pandemic that could have caused the Covid pandemic,” the report said.
According to Professor Rocio Nunez-Calonge, scientific advisor at UR International Group at the Scientific Reproduction Unit, in Spain, even after an average of 100 days following SARS-CoV-2 infection, there appeared to be no improvement in sperm quality and concentration, although new sperm would have been produced in that time.
“There have been previous studies that show semen quality is affected in the short term following a Covid infection but, as far as we are aware, none that have followed men for a longer period of time,” Nunez-Calonge said.
“We assumed that semen quality would improve once new sperm were being generated, but this was not the case. We do not know how long it might take for semen quality to be restored and it may be the case that Covid has caused permanent damage, even in men who suffered only a mild infection,” she added.
For the study, the researchers recruited 45 men attending six reproductive clinics in Spain between February 2020 and October 2022. All had a confirmed diagnosis of mild Covid, and the clinics had data from analysis of semen samples taken before the men were infected.
Another semen sample was taken between 17 and 516 days after infection.
The researchers analysed all the samples taken up to 100 days after infection, and then analysed a subset of samples taken more than 100 days later.
They found a statistically significant difference in semen volume (down 20 per cent from 2.5 to 2 millilitres), sperm concentration (down 26.5 per cent from 68 to 50 million per ml of ejaculate), sperm count (down 37.5 per cent from 160 to 100 million per millilitre of semen), total motility that is, being able to move and swim forwards (down 9.1 per cent from 49 per cent to 45 per cent) and numbers of live sperm (down 5 per cent from 80 per cent to 76 per cent).
Half of the men had total sperm counts that were 57 per cent lower after Covid compared to their pre-Covid samples.
While, the shape of the sperm was not significantly affected, even after 100 days following Covid infection, the sperm concentration and motility showed no improvement.
“The continuing effect of Covid infection on semen quality in this later period may be caused by permanent damage due to the virus, even in mild infection. We believe clinicians should be aware of the damaging effects of SARS-CoV-2 virus on male fertility. It is particularly interesting that this decrease in semen quality occurs in patients with mild Covid infection, which means that the virus can affect male fertility without the men showing any clinical symptoms of the disease,” said Prof. Nunez-Calonge.
It is known that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can affect the testicles and sperm, but the mechanism is still unknown. While calling for more research, she said that inflammation and damage to the immune system that is seen in patients with long Covid might be involved.
"Patients zero" included Ben Hu, Ping Yu and Yan Zhu -- the scientists working on the controversial "gain-of-function" research on SARS-like viruses at the WIV, according to an investigation published on the Substack newsletter Public and Racket.
It was previously noted that some WIV scientists had developed Covid-19-like illnesses in November 2019, but their identities were not known.
"Ben Hu is essentially the next Shi Zhengli," Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, was quoted as saying. Shi is popularly known as "the bat woman of China," and led the gain-of-function research at the WIV.
"Hu was her star pupil. He had been making chimeric SARS-like viruses and testing these in humanised mice. If I had to guess who would be doing this risky virus research and most at risk of getting accidentally infected, it would be him," Chan added.
Together, Hu and Yu researched the novel lineage of SARS-like viruses from which SARS-CoV-2 hails.
According to Jamie Metzl, a former member of the World Health Organisation's expert advisory committee on human genome editing: "It's a game changer if it can be proven that Hu got sick with Covid-19 before anyone else."
"That would be the 'smoking gun'. Hu was the lead hands-on researcher in Shi's lab," Metzl was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the role of WIV in the origin of Covid is also "becoming clear", a report said.
"It has become increasingly clear that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was involved in the creation, promulgation, and cover-up of the Covid-19 pandemic," the Times UK quoted an anonymous US State Department investigator as saying.
In May, former Chinese CDC head Dr George Fu Gao, said that the theory that Covid-19 is the result of a lab-leak should not be discounted. Gao directed China's CDC when Covid first emerged in Wuhan.
"You can always suspect anything. That's science. Don't rule out anything," Gao was quoted as saying in an interview for the BBC Radio 4 podcast 'Fever: The Hunt for Covid's Origin'.
China has since the beginning dismissed any suggestion the disease may have originated in a Wuhan laboratory.
More than two years after the pandemic that has infected over 763 million and claimed more than 6.9 million lives globally, the origins of Covid-19 remain unclear.
The team from NYU Abu Dhabi investigated the association between microRNAs, a class of small RNA molecules that regulate genes, and Covid severity among 259 unvaccinated Covid patients living in Abu Dhabi.
The findings, published in the journal Human Genomics, showed microRNAs that are associated with a weakened immune response and admission to ICU.
"This study demonstrates that microRNAs are promising biomarkers for disease severity, more broadly, and targets for therapeutic interventions," said Youssef Idaghdour, Associate Professor of Biology at the varsity.
During this process, they created the first genomic picture of the architecture of blood microRNAs in unvaccinated Covid patients from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia regions whose populations are consistently underrepresented in genomics research.
The researchers then identified changes in microRNAs at the early stages of infection that are associated with specific blood traits and immune cell death, allowing the virus to evade the immune system and proliferate.
The results of the system's genetics study demonstrate that a patient's genetic make-up affects immune function and disease severity, offering new insights into how patient prognosis and treatment can be improved.
In the study, the team included the results of the analysis of multiple omics datasets -- genotypes, miRNA, and mRNA expression of patients at the time of hospital admission, combined with phenotypes from electronic health records.
The researchers analysed 62 clinical variables and expression levels of 632 miRNAs measured at hospital admission, as well as identified 97 miRNAs associated with eight blood phenotypes significantly associated with ICU admission.
"These findings improve our understanding of why some patients withstand Covid-19 better than others," said Idaghdour.
"The methods of this study can be applied to other populations to further our understanding of how gene regulation can serve as a core mechanism that impacts Covid-19 and, potentially, severity of other infections," he added.
With over 650 million people globally having been infected with SARS-CoV-2, long Covid represents a significant public health concern that affects quality of life, earnings, and health care costs.
To better understand the prevalence and severity of symptoms, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched Researching Covid to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER-Adult).
Published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study examined 37 symptoms across multiple body areas and organs.
Researchers identified 12 symptoms that most set apart those with and without long Covid: post exertional malaise (worsening of symptoms following even minor physical or mental exertion), fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, gastrointestinal symptoms, heart palpitations, issues with sexual desire or capacity, loss of smell or taste, thirst, chronic cough, chest pain, and abnormal movements.
The findings include a new scoring system for long Covid to help clinicians and researchers better define it and investigate treatments for patients.
"Now that we're able to identify people with long Covid, we can begin doing more in-depth studies to understand the biological mechanisms at play," said corresponding author Andrea Foulkes, Principal Investigator of the RECOVER, and Professor at Harvard Medical School.
"One of the big takeaways from this study is the heterogeneity of long Covid: long Covid is not just one syndrome; it's a syndrome of syndromes. Understanding this idea is a really important step for doing more research and ultimately administering informed interventions," she added.
The study began enrolling participants in October 2021. Researchers analysed the results of a symptoms survey distributed at 85 hospitals, health centres, and community organisations in 33 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Over 9,500 individuals completed the survey, including uninfected adults as well as individuals who were six months past infection with Covid-19. The survey, developed in collaboration with clinicians and patient advocates, included 37 different symptoms and corresponding measures of severity.
The results also suggest that re-infections, infection with a pre-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant, and absence of vaccination is associated with a higher frequency and severity of long Covid, but the authors emphasise that ongoing research is necessary.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who had recently announced that the Covid-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency, however, underscored that this downgrade does not mean that it has ceased to be a global health threat.
"The threat of another variant emerging that causes new surges of disease and death remains, and the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential remains," he said in an address to the 76th World Health Assembly on Monday.
Covid-19 may no longer be a global public health emergency, but countries must still strengthen their response to the disease and prepare for future pandemics and other threats, so that when the next pandemic arises, a decisive and collective response is in place, he said.
Ghebreyesus also reminded the world that in the face of overlapping crises, "pandemics are far from the only threat we face".
Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have a 2030 deadline, the Covid-19 pandemic had significant implications for health-related targets, and also impacted the progress made toward the Triple Billion target, announced at the 2017 World Health Assembly.
"The pandemic has blown us off the course, but it has shown us why the SDGs must remain our north star, and why we must pursue them with the same urgency and determination with which we countered the pandemic," the WHO chief said.
Long COVID is described as experiencing persistent symptoms of the disease more than four weeks after initial infection.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US noted that over one in three people experiencing long COVID symptoms perceived such cognitive deficits, which have been found to be related to anxiety and depression.
The findings, published recently in the journal JAMA Network Open, show that psychological issues such as anxiety or depressive disorders may play a part in some people who are experiencing long COVID, technically known as post-COVID-19 condition, or PCC.
"This perception of cognitive deficits suggests that affective issues in this case anxiety and depression appear to carry over into the long COVID period," said study senior author Neil Wenger, a professor at UCLA.
"This is not to say that long COVID is all in one's head, but that it is likely not a single condition and that for some proportion of patients there is likely a component of anxiety or depression that is exacerbated by the disease," Wenger said in a statement.
The researchers surveyed 766 patients who had confirmed symptomatic COVID infection and had either been hospitalised at UCLA or at one of 20 health care facilities in the US or were referred to the programme by a primary care physician and been treated as outpatients.
Patients were surveyed by telephone at 30 days, 60 days and 90 days following hospital discharge or, in the case of non-hospitalised patients, after the date of a positive COVID test to ascertain if they felt their health was back to normal.
The researchers found that 276 (36.1 per cent) of the patients surveyed perceived during the acute illness or the following weeks that they had cognitive difficulties.
The study also found that these patients were twice as likely as those without perceived cognitive deficits to report experiencing physical symptoms at 60 and 90 days.
The researchers acknowledged some limitations to the findings. These include a lack of objective cognition measures because the survey relied on subjective responses about cognitive deficits.
They also did not have data on participants' possible cognition, depression, and anxiety prior to COVID infection.
The findings may not apply to other patient cohorts given that participants were treated at an academic medical centre and were referred to the programme based on physicians' belief that the patients were at clinically high risk for cognition deficits, the researchers added.
Covid-19 was declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in January 2020. About six weeks later, it was characterised as a pandemic. The deadly disease has to date infected over 763 million and claimed more than 6.9 million lives globally.
Based on a decreasing trend in Covid-19 deaths, related hospitalisations and intensive care unit admissions, and the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday recommended to end the health emergency at the 15th meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee.
The Committee's position has been evolving over the last several months. While acknowledging the remaining uncertainties posted by potential evolution of SARS-CoV-2, they advised that it is time to transition to long-term management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"For more than a year the pandemic has been on a downward trend," Ghebreyesus said at a news conference on Friday.
"This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before Covid-19.
"Yesterday, the emergency committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice," he said.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus will, however, continue to have pandemic status like HIV.
Although there has been a fresh surge in Covid cases, due to Omicron sub-variants XBB.1.15 and XBB.1.15, both infections and deaths have been the lowest in the three years.
Yet, more than 3,500 people died in the last week of April and billions remain unvaccinated.
The WHO chief also expressed concern that surveillance reporting to WHO has declined significantly, and that there continues to be inequitable access to life-saving interventions, and that pandemic fatigue continues to grow.
Meanwhile, many countries have also ended their states of emergency for Covid. The US also aims to lift its Covid emergency on May 11.
According to sources, a total of 7671 samples were tested in the last 24 hours of which 542 came positive.
Similarly, one person reportedly died due to the infection in the State.
The fresh infections have pushed the active case tally in the State to 3270.
According to Health department, 357 patients recuperated from the infection in the last 24 hours.
Earlier on Sunday, the single-day Covid-19 tally breached the 500-mark for the first time in this wave when 502 new cases were detected from different parts of the state.
It is worthwhile to mention here that like other states in the country, Odisha too is witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
On the other hand, India reported 9,629 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the active tally count to 61,013.
Notably, amid the surge in Covid-19 cases in the State, the Odisha government has made wearing of face masks in all health institutions mandatory.
The Directorate of Public Health, Odisha has issued an order, directing all the health authorities and medical colleges, and hospitals in the State to use masks to avoid the spread of the virus.