An association of government doctors in Karnataka has demanded that health care workers be allowed their choice of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying there have been some concerns among a section of the fraternity over the present arrangement for making available the doses.
The chief minister said that COVID-appropriate behaviour is a must and those violating the rules will be punished.
'Our task is to organise Olympic Games and not to cancel Olympic Games. This is why we are working day and night to organise safe Olympic Games.'
Amid fresh COVID-19 concerns, Karnataka government on Sunday decided to impose 'night curfew' for 10 days from December 28, between 10 PM and 5 am.
The active cases have further reduced to 22,28,724 with a decline of 1,14,428 cases being recorded in the active caseload. It now comprises 8.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 90.80 per cent.
Facing an acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, the Odisha government on Monday decided to float a global tender for procuring the vaccine to inoculate the states entire population, Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra said.
A health care worker from the United States of America has been diagnosed with Ebola after treating a patient who died of the deadly disease last week, sending officials scrambling to find the "breach in protocol" that resulted in her infection - the first case contracted on American soil.
The news comes as the United States approaches 300,000 deaths from COVID-19.
Amid criticism of his decision of a mandatory 21-day Ebola quarantine, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has loosened some of the restrictions on people returning to the US from West Africa.
Modi tweeted that the meeting discussed important issues related to the progress of vaccine development, regulatory approvals and procurement.
In a letter to states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has suggested setting up of a state steering committee chaired by the chief secretary, a state task force led by additional Chief Secretary or principal secretary (health), and a district task force to be headed by the district magistrate.
Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital while the Centre urged them to call off the agitation.
India has surpassed the United States to become the fastest COVID-19 vaccinating country in the world with an average daily rate of 30,93,861 vaccine doses, the Union health ministry said.
'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 latest variant is the most heavily mutated version discovered so far.
The masked, blue gowned and now fogged face shields were highly skilled and capable health care workers -- but inside their protective clothing they were people, with emotions -- sad, fearful, tears pouring down their masks and dripping off the sky blue water repellent gowns. Even Kevin the hulk, the male nurse who I saw lift a patient single-handedly to place an X-ray plate under the chest, was staring at his foot wear, moved to tears. Dr Sanjeeth Peter reveals what goes on in a Covid ICU: The second of a heart-wrenching multi-part diary of a Covid Warrior.
The vaccine arrives at a critical moment for the US. Hospitalisations due to COVID-19 hit record highs for the seventh day in a row on Saturday.
A senior official at the health ministry told ANI: "For HCQ, we have placed orders for about 11.45 crore tablets to two Indian firms -- IPCA laboratories and Zydus Cadila. So far, we have received 6.64 crore HCQ drugs and remaining will arrive by May 16."
FDA said as of now it has issued an emergency use authorisation to allow hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine products donated to the Strategic National Stockpile to be distributed.
New infections have spiked ahead of the Olympics, which are set to start in July
This design serves two purposes -- first, keeps the health workers well-ventilated, while preventing bodily discomfort, and second, keeps them safe from various fungal infections.
There are 12 sites across India, including private and public hospitals, conducting Phase 1 and 2 human clinical trials for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. Based on an earlier letter by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to the 12 sites, volunteer recruitments for the clinical trials were to begin by July 7. At least three sites are yet to kick-start the process.
The spike in coronavirus deaths came on the same day the number of people hospitalised broke the 100,000-mark, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
In view of the unprecedented and peculiar circumstances under which vaccination drive is devised as an executive policy, the "wisdom of the executive should be trusted", it said.
Each person in the immunisation list would be linked with their Aadhaar cards to avoid duplication and to track beneficiaries.
'Until the case load starts dropping, we will have to keep up the current level of prevention activities.'
The US president had in past expressed dismay with the $2.3 trillion package that Congress passed Monday, which includes $900 billion in coronavirus relief and $1.4 trillion to fund the government until October, conflating the two bills and saying the spending goals were misguided.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed concern over restrictions imposed on travelers returning from Ebola-affected countries, saying people who develop infections should be "supported, not stigmatised".
It would be difficult to stick to the Budget numbers unless the departments are reined in their expenditure plans.
'And they are going to be milder because we are dealing with the vaccinated and are much richer in terms of the immune response in the population.'
The first fatality from COVID-19 was reported from the Washington state on February 26.
Social workers and psychiatrists say efforts are not being made to gather and scrutinize statistics of South Asians, including Indians with suicidal problems.
In its morning update, the Union health ministry said the total number of positive cases has reached 2,16,919 with a record spike of 9,304 new cases since Wednesday 8 am across the country, while the death toll has increased to 6,075 with 260 more fatalities in this period. A PTI tally of figures announced by different states and union territories, as of 9.50 pm, showed a higher number of confirmed cases across the country at 2,17,389 and the death toll at 6,233.
The prime minister also visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi after the milestone was achieved and interacted with hospital officials.
Here's a presentation of some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by.
The World Health Organisation has said that the death toll attributed to the Ebola outbreak has risen above 4,000.
The government is considering setting up air freight stations to enable direct movement of vaccines from pharmaceutical factories to the aircraft.
he immunity built from the vaccine does little to stop it from transmission, warns Dr Raj Agarwal. You may harbour the virus as a carrier, and be a source of infection to others who are less fortunate and haven't got a chance to get vaccinated yet.
Modi did not consider these deaths important enough to express regrets. Will these lives continue to count for nothing? asks Jyoti Punwani.