It's expected that INSACOG will be once again releasing a bulletin from next week on updates about the types of variants present in India.
The health minister said the Centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address heatwave-related illnesses.
Amid a gradual rise in daily Covid-19 cases, the Union health ministry said on Thursday that the XBB.1.16 subvariant of Omicron might be the dominant virus strain in the country but there has been no reported increase in the rate of hospitalisation or death so far.
Indians being evacuated from Ukraine have been exempted from pre-boarding RT-PCR test, providing Covid vaccination certificates and uploading those on the Air Suvidha portal, the health ministry said.
The minister will review the COVID-19 situation at 11:30 am on Wednesday 'considering the international scenario', they said.
It said the Centre had proactively advised all state governments to review the availability of vaccines, right from the start of the vaccination drive against COVID-19, to ensure that the wastage of doses is reduced to a minimum.
'The first duty of the government is to learn lessons from a bad experience and course correct. It's a pity that the government is making policy without looking at evidence and differentiating between immediate and urgent.'
With the fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 4.47 crore.
A case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN. 1 has been detected in Kerala as part of an ongoing routine surveillance activity of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a senior official from the Indian Council of Medical research (ICMR) said on Saturday.
With the fresh infections, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 4.47 crore (4,47,22,605). The death toll climbed to 5,30,881 with five deaths, the data updated at 8 am stated.
Mansukh Mandaviya replaced Anurag Thakur in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new cabinet.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said future decisions on COVID-19 SOPs will be taken in consultation with the Union Health Ministry and the state Task Force, amid a difference between the Centre and the state over guidelines for international travellers in the wake of the new variant of SARS-CoV2.
The needle-free vaccine will be available at private centres.
The death toll has increased to 5,31,258 with 28 deaths, which includes nine reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The process of identification of victims by matching the DNA samples is currently underway, and the bodies will be handed over to their relatives once the process is complete.
The virus case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,85,257) while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.81 per cent, the ministry said.
The death toll has climbed to 5,31,753 with 12 fatalities which includes those reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
According to the Union health ministry data updated at 8 am Monday, the total number of cases is now 4.46 crore (4,46,80,094).
With the fresh cases, the COVID-19 tally increased to 4.49 crore (4,49,69,630).
The scare of communicable diseases seems to be gripping the country with Maharashtra reporting 28 Zika cases this year, the highest since 2021.
As many as 290 cases of KP.2 and 34 cases of KP.1, both sub-lineages of COVID-19 that are responsible for surge in cases in Singapore, have been found in India, according to official data.
India has logged 5,335 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in 195 days, while the active cases have increased to 25,587, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday.
The tests have to be conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey to India, Mandaviya said.
The total tally of Covid cases stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,74,981), while the death toll was 5,30,658 with no fresh fatalities being reported, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The move comes after international studies revealed that Gatifloxacin posed 17 times higher risk of developing serious hyperglycemia than other antibiotics in elderly patients.
Candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate 2023 exam will now be eligible to participate in the counselling process.
The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has increased to 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry's website.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting with states and Union Territories on Tuesday and advised them to ramp up testing for early identification and management of cases.
Ministers' resignation accepted, portfolios farmed out
Twenty-two cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country till Thursday, with 21 cases being reported from Goa and another from Kerala, official sources said.
Expenditure on health in India is at a global low of 1.2% of GDP.
The Committee on Empowerment of Women, headed by Congress MP Krishna Tirath, also disagreed with the ministry, which, in reply to its recommendations, said the spending is higher if a holistic view is taken of health along with other determinants like nutrition, drinking water and sanitation.
The death toll due to the disease has increased to 5,31,016 with 16 new fatalities being reported -- two each in Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, and one each in Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, and five reconciled by Kerala -- the data updated at 8 am stated.
However, under several external factors -- such as technological disruption or advancement, regulatory or policy changes, or economic shocks -- the gig workforce may grow only to 32.5 million by 2047, a report points out.
A mock drill will be held on Tuesday across a number of health facilities in several states and Union Territories to ensure their readiness to deal with any eventuality related to COVID-19, following an advisory by the Centre.
The death toll has increased to 5,31,642 with 36 deaths, which includes nine reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The US's national public health institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had in early May incorporated "a new loss of taste or smell" in the list of COVID-19 symptoms.
The ministry has removed its earlier recommendation of the use of anti-HIV drug combinations Lopinavir and Ritonavir on a case-to-case basis depending upon the severity of the condition of a patient suffering from coronavirus infection.
India has logged 7,178 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have dipped after 69 days, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday.
In its reply to the World Bank's allegations of corruption in five health projects worth a total of $ 568 million, the Indian govt has sent a report denying the charges. The report said World Bank has misunderstood protocols and has not provided evidence to substantiate the charges. The Union Health Ministry has said that the report erroneously created an impression that the health sector delivery system is beset with fraud and corruption. It has also damaged its credibility.
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