The drug comes in powder form in a sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water. It accumulates in the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.
As cases of 'black fungus' among COVID-19 patients in the country rise to cross 7,000, the Centre on Thursday urged all states and union territories to declare it as a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act to ensure mandatory surveillance to tackle the 'new challenge'.
The government on Friday warned about the declining compliance to mask usage in the country amid concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and urged people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated to prevent surge in cases.
'Unfortunately, during this pandemic, everybody started saying that well, these are desperate times and desperate times need desperate solutions.' 'Purely out of fear, anxiety, panic, this knowledge that people started acquiring from WhatsApp University and social media, it pushed science completely to the backseat.'
'Now you see a patient, 10 minutes later the patient is dead.' 'The second wave is definitely much more dangerous, brutal and fatal than the first wave.' 'The number of deaths and infections in India today are very, very, high; the actual numbers are not being reported.'
The Army made no attempt to ascertain the identity of the civilians returning from work on a pick-up truck before shooting them in Nagaland's Mon district on Saturday, a joint report by the state's Director General of Police T John Longkumer and Commissioner Rovilatuo Mor has said.
'India does not have the wherewithal to successfully manage a full blown covid-19 crisis,' warns Vivek Gumaste.
The fatality rate is down to 3.1 per cent and the recovery rate has improved to 37.5 per cent, he said.
'Health will continue to be at the centre of the government's attention as it underpins economic recovery and our collective well being.'
Intensifying screening of international passengers at airports, asking educational institutions to postpone their public events, and limiting gatherings, meetings, conferences to 500 people, are among the other measures announced by the government.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai held a meeting with experts, and senior ministers and officials of his government to assess the COVID-19 situation in the state and curbs that were put in place to control its spread.
France on Sunday delivered to India 28 tonnes of ready-to-use medical supplies including eight large oxygen plants while the US sent to India a third flight that brought over 1000 oxygen cylinders
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease is 1,48,17,371, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.12 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
It has been decided to open factories and allow construction activities, Kejriwal said.
Senior officials in the government have been pointing out that while cases are reducing, people should not get complacent.
The kin of the deceased created a ruckus at the entrance of the hospital alleging that the shortage of oxygen killed the four patients
The Centre has warned it is likely that the spread of the new variant will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission.
These decisions were taken by the ministry based on the fresh recommendations by The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) and have also been communicated to the states and union territories, an official statement said.
Agnivesh was critically ill and was on ventilatory support since Tuesday
The active cases have reduced to 36,18,458 comprising 14.66 per cent of the total infections.
'The second wave was more virulent, more aggressive, more transmissible.'
'Most of the cases in Mumbai are asymptomatic -- 85 per cent you can say.' 'Only 10 to 15 per cent are symptomatic.'
Rahul Gandhi visited ailing DMK chief M Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai.
Those who were held guilty included Safdar Nagori, Javed Ahmed and Atikur Rehman. Among those acquitted were Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Ahmad and Shakeel Ahmed.
The state has a total of 138,836 coronavirus cases and as of Tuesday 5,489 people have died, up by 731 from Monday morning.
Do not lose crucial time to begin treatment for Mucormycosis, insists Dr Sanket Jain, consultant pulmonologist, Masina Hospital, Mumbai.
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat.
The very severe cyclonic storm Tauktae is likely to intensify during the next 24 hours and reach the Gujarat coast on Monday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Meanwhile, at least two doctors and six nurses at the Lady Hardinge Medical College have tested positive for coronavirus.
The Pakistani military may shortly give Imran Khan the boot, substituting him with another puppet, predicts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'Am I going to take my money with me when I die tomorrow?' asks Kadar Shaikh when asked about the money he spent to develop two COVID-19 isolation centres with 145 beds by spending more than Rs 1 crore.
Three big cities in the country -- Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru -- witnessed huge spike in daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday even as Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain claimed hospital admissions have stabilised indicating the current coronavirus wave peaked and cases may start declining soon.
United States Pharma giant Pfizer is in the final stages of an agreement with India to supply anti-COVID-19 vaccines, Chief Executive Officer Dr Albert Bourla said on Tuesday, observing that the domestically manufactured vaccines would be the backbone of vaccinating the Indian people.
Aggressive testing, timely diagnosis and effective management of patients either through supervised home isolation or active medical attention in hospitals have led to a surge in recovered cases which exceed active COVID-19 cases by 2,72,191 as on date
'I try to say to myself, 'Don't cry in front of people'. But sometimes I can't help it.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is recuperating at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences after a successful coronary bypass surgery, will be taken out of the Intensive Care Unit by Wednesday. "He is responding very well to the treatment. Everything is going as per treatment plan.," Dr Ramakant Panda, a specialist of Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute, who led the team of doctors during the surgery, told PTI.
Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar was admitted to Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital's Intensive Care Unit in the early hours of Monday after she complained of breathing problems, hospital sources said.
The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.
Long-term exposure to chronically high PM2.5 levels weakens the ability of the lungs to fend off infections, therefore making people more susceptible to COVID-19, the scientists said.
Whenever the Census operation resumes, it will capture the impact of Covid-19 to a large extent, including the extra-lethal second wave, reports Abhishek Waghmare.