'In the likelihood that Omicron is circulating, you have a much greater chance of getting infected now, than you did during the Age of Delta.'
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which monitors data related to the pandemic, said the sub-lineage known as BA.2 shows a low number of cases in the country, with the original Omicron lineage BA.1 still dominant.
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian on Tuesday exuded confidence that India would achieve double-digit growth in the current financial year on the back of policy initiatives and continuing reforms. He also said the country is well poised to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of GDP. "At this stage, I can say confidently that we should be able to achieve that fiscal deficit number. "Any shortfalls that might happen on the disinvestment side will also be accompanied by positive surprises that have happened on tax revenue," he told reporters.
'The key purpose of vaccination is to prevent hospitalisation, severe disease, and death.' 'All vaccines work equally, although mild disease cannot be prevented.'
'An individual who maybe has had two vaccines, or has had two vaccines, and a booster, is going to be pretty well protected.'
Mu -- also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 -- was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been 'sporadic reports' of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe, the United Nations health agency said in its weekly bulletin on the pandemic on Tuesday.
The COVID-19 vaccines can be "tweaked" to provide protection against new variants of the virus, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, Director Dr Randeep Guleria said.
If the pandemic persists, at least a portion of the blame should go to greed and nationalism that got in the way of the world acting together, notes Prosenjit Datta.
With a population of more than 60 million, the delta region accounts for nearly 30 per cent of China's exports.
Stressing on the need to protect both lives and livelihoods, he said public health action in India and across the world must be continually guided by evidence from four key questions -- how transmissible is the variant, severity of the disease it causes, how well vaccines and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection protect and how common people perceive risk and follow control measures.
Packed with groundbreaking technology, the Mars 2020 mission launched July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover mission marks an ambitious first step in the effort to collect Mars samples and return them to Earth, according to an official statement.
So should airlines play the keening, trance-like Siddi folk music from the Kutch peninsula? The Sufiana Kalam of Kashmir? Carnatic music? Rabindra Sangeet? Bihu melodies? Classical music from the Hindustani gharanas? Ghazals? Bhajans? Bollywood hits?... asks Kanika Datta.
The price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked by about Rs 25 per litre in line with a near 40 per cent rise in international oil prices, but retail rates at petrol pumps remain unchanged, sources said. Petrol pump sales have jumped by a fifth this month after bulk users like bus fleet operators and malls queued up at petrol bunks to buy fuel rather than the usual practice of ordering directly from oil companies, widening the losses of retailers. Worst hit are private retailers like Nayara Energy, Jio-bp and Shell, who have so far refused to curtail any volume despite a surge in sales.
'We have to take all preparations because the third wave is likely to start from September-October onward'
It was women who unambiguously bore the brunt of the lockdown joblessness, says Kanika Datta.
The patient is currently admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital and has mild symptoms, hospital officials said.
The fate of India's upcoming tour of South Africa amid the trepidation triggered by new COVID-19 variant Omicron will be addressed when the Board of Control for Cricket in India holds its 90th Annual General Meeting in Kolkata on Saturday.
'Serial testing is much more valuable than a single test which reflects just a point in time.'
'Vaccination is very important for an economy to start functioning properly.'
The employment situation remains dire. Whatever can be done to promote greater low-skill employment should be pursued aggressively, advises former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya.
'When I contracted COVID and was extremely unwell, I almost thought I was not going to make it.' 'But this man (Karan Johar) was like family for us in Bombay. He would send doctors for me, made sure my medication was done correctly and made sure I came out of COVID.'
'We still have 30,000-40,000 cases.' 'It is plateauing, but the number should definitely come down more so that we can convert the pandemic into an endemic.'
The study titled 'Serendipitous COVID-19 Vaccine-Mix in Uttar Pradesh, India: Safety and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Heterologous Regime' has been uploaded on medRxiv, a preprint server and is yet to be peer reviewed.
With a surge in coronavirus cases in Delhi and its neighbouring cities, migrant workers and daily wagers fear another round of lockdown could push them into a severe financial crisis from which they might never recover.
The reduced severity of the Omicron variant is good news for now, but it is the result of an 'evolutionary mistake' and does not indicate that the virus which causes COVID-19 is becoming less virulent, a leading Indian-origin scientist from the University of Cambridge warned on Thursday.
'If your oxygen saturation is okay and is maintained after the six-minute walk test -- which has been described all over the world -- and you do not have an unrelenting fever, then you can even be managed at home.'
Travel bubbles, also called travel bridges or green corridors, do away with the waiting period for travellers from certain countries. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning flyers from both countries will enjoy similar benefits.
After a long hiatus of more than 20 months, the government had on November 26 announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from December 15.
'Should the new ISIS leadership opt for a consolidation, the Afghan-Pakistan border would be an attractive place,' warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Known for its flamboyant and trendy image, Virgin Atlantic is a minnow among airlines due to a small fleet and limited network.
'My father was asking me what an IPO is. He has no clue and he has never been an investor.' 'My mother, who was the one to ring the bell, has been an investor in Policybazaar for the past 6-7 years and I would say she has made good returns.'
The government expects the economy to grow by 7-7.75 per cent in the current fiscal.
India's official COVID-19 tally on Wednesday was 4,18,480 (4.18 lakh), the third highest in the world after the US and Brazil.
'You have sufficient protection if you take the second dose of the Covishield vaccine at 12 weeks, because this vaccine works in a way where it provides protection in the first dose.'
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
'We know, from our experience of this virus, that there's something known as long COVID-19, where you have this persistent fatigue and some people have lost their neurological acuteness and they are not as sharp as they used to be.'
As many as 721,469 appointments were made through the national booking service on Friday -- the day of the announcement -- at an average of more than eight every second. To cope with demand, the NHS said it is using stadiums and football grounds as giant vaccination centres.
Making citizens queue to vote just when the disease is declining, but is still in the air, could just cause a fresh spurt. The logic for this scheduling is inexplicable, especially since the entire process could so easily have been pushed back by three weeks, argues David Devadas.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and throwdown specialist Dayanand Garani tested positive for COVID-19, while two others were placed in precautionary isolation as the dreaded virus hit the Indian cricket team ahead of next month's Test series against England.
We need to give a booster shot to all our frontline workers first as if they fall victim to Omicron, the health system will collapse, points out Ramesh Menon.
