These seven countries are South Africa, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Scientists have used virus-like particles to predict how environmental factors affect the survival of the novel coronavirus on surfaces, and found that the COVID-19 virus may remain infectious longer as temperatures drop in winter.
INSACOG experts are conducting genomic analysis of a coronavirus case reported as that of the highly transmissible XE variant by Mumbai civic officials, though scientific evidence so far does not indicate it to be so, official sources said on Wednesday.
The highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has mutated further to form the 'Delta plus' or 'AY.1' variant but there is no immediate cause for concern in India as its incidence in the country is still low, scientists in New Delhi said.
The Delta Plus variant have been detected sporadically in Maharashtra, Kerala and MP.
Antibodies produced by two doses of mRNA vaccines against the original and early variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus wane substantially over time, and offer essentially no protection against Omicron, according to a study that highlights the importance of a booster dose.
Rediff.com Contributing Photographer Pradeep Bandekar sighted these stars on Tuesday.
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.
The study found that after 10 hours, the surrogate genetic material had spread to 41 per cent of sites sampled across the hospital ward, from bed rails to door handles to arm rests in a waiting room to children's toys and books in a play area.
The study may also help to explain the apparent persistence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 in cool environments with high lipid or protein contamination, such as meat processing facilities and how we might better address that risk, the researchers said.
One in 15 individuals aged 10 years and above were estimated to be exposed to SARS- CoV2 by August 2020, ICMR's 2nd sero-survey said.
As the Omicron strain spreads across the globe and questions on vaccine inequity dominate discussions, scientists are still scrambling to learn more about emerging variants of the deadly virus that has claimed millions of lives and crippled economies.
'Since the Covid virus has a tendency to mutate, we can continue to expect new variants of the virus to emerge and keep circulating and recirculating in the communities.'
Researchers at Public Health Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, UK, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered better protection against the Delta variant compared to the Oxford-AstraZeneca preventive, known as Covishield in India.
The Omicron lineages have been named BA.4 and BA.5.
Anurag Agrawal, the Director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, said the study on effectiveness of the available vaccines on the B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 suggests that post vaccination, the infections are milder.
The research, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine on Tuesday, describes how different sized respiratory droplets emitted while speaking have a range of sizes, and can carry different amounts of virus.
The study also indicated that the risk seems to increase with each infection.
The first COVID-19 vaccine to reach phase I clinical trial is safe, well-tolerated, and capable of generating an immune response against the novel coronavirus in humans, says a new research published in The Lancet journal.
With the threat of COVID-19 pandemic continuing to loom over the world, the Ministry of Ayush has come out with a comprehensive document putting forth the concept of 'holistic health'.
The identification of host dependency factors mediating virus infection may provide key insights into effective molecular targets for developing broadly acting antiviral therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 and other deadly coronavirus strains, according to the researchers.
No case of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus has been detected in India yet, a senior government official said on Monday.
British intelligence agencies now believe it is 'feasible' that the COVID-19 pandemic began with a coronavirus leak from a Chinese bio laboratory, a media report said here on Sunday, prompting Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi to demand that the World Health Organisation (WHO) must fully investigate the origins of the deadly virus.
The test named the "SARS-CoV-2 DETECTR" is easy to implement and to interpret, and requires no specialised equipment, said researchers from the University of California, San Francisco in the US.
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint session of the United States Congress, delivered on Thursday.
Lower levels of ACE2 gene expression in nasal epithelium, the first point of contact for SARS-CoV-2 and the human body, may explain why children have a lower risk of Covid-19 infection and mortality, according to a study. The researchers found that ACE2 gene expression in nasal epithelium was lowest in younger children and increased with age.
A set of seven symptoms, considered together, can be used to maximise detection of COVID-19 in the community, according to a study.
While virologists say theoretically the vaccine that works on Delta should work on the Delta Plus variant as well, more research is needed.
Results from early-phase non-randomised vaccine trials in a total of 76 people show that two formulations of the vaccine have a good safety profile detected over 42 days, and induce antibody responses in all participants within 21 days.
The mask can potentially be worn longer, causing less plastic waste as it does not need to be replaced as frequently, the researchers said.
The international team of researchers combined lab-based experiments and epidemiology of vaccine breakthrough infections, showing that the Delta variant is better at replicating and spreading than other commonly-observed variants.
Scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad have found prominently a different variant of SARS-CoV-2 in southern parts of India, a top official of the institute said on Thursday.
The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, also challenges the current hypothesis that because children have lower numbers of immune receptors for SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, this makes them less likely to become infected or seriously ill.
The Rhesus macaque monkeys, used worldwide in medical research, are believed to be the best non-human primates for such studies.
The vaccine induced robust binding and neutralising antibody responses which were comparable to those observed in the convalescent serum collected from patients who had recovered from COVID-19, according to the findings which have appeared on medRxiv, a preprint server.
The government decided to form an oversight committee which will investigate the allegations of sexual harassment of women wresters by WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Under the conditions, the firms shall submit data of ongoing clinical trials and the vaccines to be supplied for programmatic setting.Adverse event following immunisation will continue to be monitored.
Powered by a 996cc engine, the transmission is a CVT unit that transfers power to the front wheels.
The objective of the study was to determine the genetic diversity among Indian SARS-CoV-2 viral isolates in comparison to the strains that are occurring worldwide.
'Serial testing is much more valuable than a single test which reflects just a point in time.'