Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal claimed that India has been doing better than many other countries on the outcome ratio, which is the number of recoveries from coronavirus infection versus the number of deaths.
Responding to a question over an Indian Council of Medical Research study which stated that 40 out of 104 people having severe acute respiratory infection and later tested positive for coronavirus did not have any recent international travel history or contact with any confirmed cases of the disease, senior official of the ministry Lav Agarwal asserted, "No community transmission has happened in the country so far. There is no need to panic."
These dedicated COVID-19 facilities will have a capacity of 1,06,719 isolation beds and 12,024 ICU beds reserved for such patients in the country.
The top court said the private hospitals including laboratories have an important role to play in containing the scale of the pandemic by extending philanthropic services in the hour of national crisis.
These 51 cases were detected from over 45,000 samples sequenced so far in the country.
Vaccines Covishield and Covaxin work against SARS-CoV-2 variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, while effectiveness tests against the Delta Plus variant is ongoing, the government said.
All travellers and contacts have been tested and quarantined.
The global heath body had earlier suspended the hydroxychloroquine arm of the clinical trials of experimental COVID-19 drugs over safety concerns.
These seven countries are South Africa, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Giriraj Singh, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari were among those who got the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the fifth day of the second phase of vaccination on Friday.
In the video, Hardik along with the family members is seen saluting the medical staff and other emergency personnel for their efforts.
The central government on Thursday said the months of September and October will be crucial in pandemic management and cautioned that festivals should be celebrated in accordance with COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.
Kids mostly have mild illnesses and recover with just symptomatic treatment.
At present, the cost of testing for COVID-19 is Rs 4,500 per examination and the results are available within 24 hours. Almost 90 per cent of queries fizzle out after patients realise the cost of testing will not be borne by the government.
Easing restrictions, all private hospitals were on Tuesday allowed to give the vaccines if they adhere to the laid down norms, while the 9 am to 5 pm timing was also done away with.
'There are not enough RT-PCR tests and they take a long time to do in specialised centres. So the world is using RA tests for the same reason that India is using them, and with similar somewhat spuriously comforting rationale'
The same testing technique would also be used for monitoring in green zones districts which have reported no cases till now or in the last 21 days, the Union health ministry said while issuing 'Guidelines for RT-PCR based pooled sampling for migrants/returnees from abroad/green zones'.
The death toll climbed to 55,794 with 945 fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours.
In a series of tweets after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Oxford's vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for restricted emergency use, Modi said it will make every Indian proud that both the vaccines are made in India.
There is no immediate need for imposing lockdown or additional restrictions in Mumbai as the bed occupancy rate, oxygen requirement and number of Covid-19 deaths are low, municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal said on Friday.
The world is witnessing the fourth surge of the COVID-19 pandemic and India has to be on guard and cannot afford to slacken, said Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday.
Indian tennis player Sania Mirza expressed concerns over the spread of coronavirus and urged people to stay at home saying that it is the 'biggest need of the hour'.
Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata have already reached their peak in case numbers in the past seven days, said Manindra Agrawal, a professor at IIT Kanpur and one of the researchers associated with the Sutra Covid model.
Covaxin is being indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Out of the 12 deaths reported in the last 24 hours some are related to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said in a daily media briefing.
'"The end" depends on two things.' 'Either you develop a vaccine which is effective or if you have a drug, you can terminate this infection very quickly.' 'Otherwise, you have to depend on herd immunity.' 'I think it should happen earlier. Far earlier, than we can imagine or achieve 'herd immunity'.'
The death toll has climbed to 4,65,082 with 459 daily fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
Niclosamide, a drug on the World Health Organisation's list of essential medicines, has been used to treat tapeworm infestation for more than 50 years. The oral antiviral drug was also used to treat patients during the SARS outbreak of 2003-04.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tracks Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's project-launching spree with just about three months to go for the assembly election in India's most populous state.
'The mental issues are too complex to be handled.' 'It is hitting us hard for one reason.' 'We have such a high level of fear about this disease.'
Booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines are the easiest barrier that must be created immediately against Omicron, according to eminent virologist Dr T Jacob John, who noted that it may not seed the third wave of the pandemic, but breakthrough infections may be common due to the new variant.
India recorded 4,03,738 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day, which pushed the tally to 2,22,96,414, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.
India's COVID-19 cases and deaths per million population are amongst the lowest in the world, the govt says.
Mumbai, with an estimated population of nearly 20 million, has been testing 1,200-1,400 people per day. Delay in the delivery of rapid antibody test kits has forced the BMC to restrict its testing net.
The joint secretary also said a high-level task force to work on frontiers of science related to vaccines and drug testing was formed on Sunday.
With a record single-day rise of 3,49,691 new coronavirus infections, India's total tally of Covid-19 cases climbed to 1,69,60,172, while active cases crossed the 26-lakh mark, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.
The test - called the Truenat Beta CoV test - effectively enables same-day testing, reporting, and patient isolation initiation.
Children below five years are exempted from both pre- and post-arrival testing for COVID-19 in India, according to the revised guidelines for international arrivals released on Thursday.
Passengers should undergo RT-PCR test and be isolated in a separate unit of an institutional facility if found positive
If things go according to plan, the vaccine would be available in the market by the end of this year.
