Social stigma and low testing are the key reasons for the high mortality rate among COVID-19 patients in West Bengal, where the disease, like elsewhere in the country, is still an urban phenomenon, experts say. The state's Trinamool Congress government has been drawing consistent criticism from the Centre and opposition parties over the way it has tackled the pandemic, and has been accused of under-reporting data about the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
In addition to declaring a national emergency, US President Trump has approved major disaster declarations for New York, California, Washington, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and Florida.
As the world struggles with the deadly coronavirus, there are some who are dealing with the pandemic in their own unique way. Here are 12 images that show how.
In his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast, Modi said Amrit Kalash Yatra will be organised under the campaign and 7,500 pots carrying soil from different corners of the country will be brought to the national capital along with saplings.
Sunil Bharala, the chairman of the state Labour Welfare Council, said stubble burning is an 'age-old practice'.
'India matters significantly to President Biden and to this administration, and not just in South Asia or the Indo-Pacific region, but truly globally.'
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
The Congress said the foot march, being led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, will proceed according to its schedule and reach Jammu on Monday afternoon.
'Some of the longer-term implications of COVID-19 are not related to the virus itself.' 'They are actually related to immune responses from the virus.'
The trial began at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle as the first participant received the investigational vaccine.
IT firm Cognizant on Friday said it will give employees who are at associate level and below in India and the Philippines, an additional payment of 25 per cent of base pay for April in recognition of their extraordinary continuity-of-service efforts amid the covid-19 outbreak. The move is expected to benefit over 1,30,000 Cognizant employees in India.
'When one was with Mother, one realised you were with somebody who was the nearest person to God.' 'She must have been God incarnate.'
The Union health ministry is releasing funds for states and Union territories under the National Health Mission for implementation of phase 1 up to June 2020.
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
'From March 2020 to November 2021, the combined wealth of the billionaires of this country has doubled.'
Core to the planning is the rigidly-enforced closed loop that physically separates Games-related personnel from the local population
Drinking three to five cups of coffee a day might help you live longer, new research from Harvard suggests.
'The most intriguing thing (about COVID-19) is the range of the illness -- from asymptomatic or less symptoms to death and quite severe manifestations.' 'The vaccine will be at least another year away from having any effect.'
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Donald Trump talked by phone for about 50 minutes Friday morning and agreed to 'strengthen cooperation' on fighting the novel coronavirus, but did not discuss postponing the Olympics or holding them without spectators, Japanese officials said.
Mandaviya said this is the second phase of the Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package as the Central government had given Rs 15,000 crore earlier for setting up Covid-dedicated hospitals and health centres across the country.
The Philippines' foreign ministry confirmed in a statement that one of its nationals had died while working at a resort south of the capital Doha. It said its embassy was "working with legal authorities to ascertain more details of his passing".
From 3.38 per cent in April, the fatality rate in the country has come down to 2.87 per cent as against 6.4 per cent globally.
Amid protests in Barak Valley, Morigaon and Dhubri, the crackdown on child marriage in Assam entered the fourth day on Monday, with the number of arrests rising to 2,441.
However, if there is a larger outbreak, the entire building will have to be closed for 48 hours. All staff will work from home till the building is adequately disinfected and is declared fit for re-occupation, it said in the guidelines on preventive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in workplace settings.
Mandatory prescription of generic names is not a complete solution. Rather, in the absence of a range of approaches, it could mean passing the choice of selecting a drug from a doctor to a pharmacist, says Chandrakant Lahariya.
The commission has also enhanced the limit of people allowed for door-to-door campaign.
What is particularly worrying is that the vast majority will not have access to testing or even to proper treatment. These cases could have been avoided if the government had shown the political will to do so, observes Rashme Sehgal.
The female tiger, named Nadia, is believed to be the first known case of an animal infected with COVID-19 in the US. It is suspected that she contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at that time.
In view of the continuous dip in coronavirus cases, the home ministry has decided to end its all Covid-19 containment measures from March 31, two years after their implementation following the outbreak of the pandemic.
The claims were made after the Income Tax department had on July 6 raided 36 premises of the Bengaluru-based Micro Labs Ltd. across nine states.
In a show of solidarity, the CEOs of some 40 top American companies have come together to create a global task force to mobilise resources to help India fight the battle against Covid-19.
At the bottom of the water index for 2016-17 are Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh (UP), and Haryana, which are major producers of paddy, wheat, along with a host of horticulture crops.
Shenzhen which has been battling an Omicron surge since late February, will carry out three rounds of citywide COVID-19 tests next week.
The oxygen shortage was inevitable to an extent given the tsunami of Covid cases, but the problem is the lack of even basic preparation by both the Centre and states, notes Shyamal Majumdar.
An American doctor who became the first person in New York city to be diagnosed with Ebola, is free from the virus and will be discharged from hospital on Tuesday, officials said.
The first step for any move forward will be the UK government's review of lockdown restrictions due on May 7.
The Centre said bird flu has been confirmed only in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh so far, but all states should be prepared for any eventuality. States have been told to ensure sufficient stock of PPE kits and accessories required for culling operations.
Currently, domestic supplies and commercial imports of vaccines attract a 5 per cent Goods and Services Tax, while COVID drugs and oxygen concentrators attract a 12 per cent levy.
The Democrats, especially the Biden administration, wanted to deliver a sharper message to Mr Modi than would be possible in a formal summit setting. So, why not get the most prominent Democrat in decades to deliver it?, explains Shekhar Gupta.
Indra Nooyi, the former chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo, has said that she has "never, ever, ever" asked for a raise as she found it "cringeworthy" and cannot imagine working for somebody and saying "my pay is not enough." Nooyi, 65, who helmed the beverage giant PepsiCo for 12 years and stepped down as its chief executive officer (CEO) in 2018, has published a memoir 'My Life in Full'. Born in Chennai, she graduated from the Madras Christian College and studied management at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta before moving to Yale University in the US for a master's degree.
