An expert has told a news channel that the spike in the cornavirus cases in India could be linked to the super spreader events and not the mutations of the virus.

Dr V Ravi, Retired Professor of Neurobiology at NIMHAN and Nodal Officer for Genomic Confirmation of SARS-CoV-2, Government of Karnataka, quoted saying that the upsurge in the India coronavirus cases is triggered by super spreader events and then lack of tracking, testing to detect the spread.

“It is not true that we have our own Indian variant that has emerged with the amino acid mutations that have been seen in Maharashtra. These changes have been witnessed in other places as well. We have been doing genomic sequencing at NIMHANS. We have found both the 440 and the 484 mutations isolated in variants that have been circulating ever since the post lockdown period. There is no variant that has a propensity to spread higher than what has been identified in India,” he said.

On the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines on the new variants of the coronavirus, the report quoted experts as saying that there was absolutely no evidence to suggest that the vaccines will not be effective on the variants.

Amid a spurt in the coronavirus cases in India, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the existing Covid-19 guidelines will remain in force till March 31.

In a statement, the home ministry said while there has been a substantial decline in the active and new coronavirus cases, there is a need to maintain surveillance, containment, and caution so as to fully overcome the pandemic.

The states and union territories have also been advised to speed up the vaccination of the target population so as to break the chain of transmission and overcome the pandemic.

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As many as 152 coronavirus positive patients succumbed to the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll due to coronavirus in India to 1,53,184. India also registered 17,130 discharges on Friday.

With the fresh number of coronavirus cases and discharges, the active Covid-19 cases in the country now stand at 1,85,662. So far, 10,300,838 people have recovered from the disease taking the national recovery rate to 96.81 percent.

The Covid-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.44 percent.

According to the ICMR, a total of 19,09,85,119 samples have so far been tested for the viral disease in the country, including 8,37,095 on Friday.

Maharashtra has so far reported the highest number of 50,684 deaths caused by the viral disease in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,307), Karnataka (12,190), Delhi (10,789), West Bengal (10,097), Uttar Pradesh (8,605), Andhra Pradesh (7,146), Punjab (5,543) and Gujarat(4,374).

Since the vaccination drive was launched last Saturday, 13,90,592 have been vaccinated.

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Officials have indicated that India may not prefer Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine over the other options available to the country for the prevention of Covid-19.

On December 13, coronavirus vaccine vials of Pfizer made their way to distribution site across the United States. The coronavirus vaccine shots are expected to be given to health care workers and nursing home residents in the US beginning Monday.

The same scenario won’t happen anytime soon in India, as the cost of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is one of the primary reasons for it. At $37 i.e, Rs 2,728, the coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer is much more expensive compared to the other vaccine candidates such as Oxford-AstraZeneca ‘Covishield’ and the $10 (Rs 737) vaccine candidate developed by Russia.

Bernstein analysts have said that assuming the cost per vial of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to be at $3 (Rs 220.95), India may procure 680 million doses of the vaccine which would cost the country $1.9 billion. However, if the cost of Pfizer’s vaccine remains at $13, it would cost the country 12 times more. According to a report in Business Standard, Pfizer has said the company would only sell through government contracts.

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Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that the second wave of COVID-19 infections hit the national capital in September this year. He also said that many people think they can recover from the infection but do not consider that they can act as carriers and infect their family members and loved ones.

The Delhi Government is planning to ban firecrackers this Diwali completely. FIR will be filed against anyone found in violation of the ban on firecrackers this Diwali.

Experts repeatedly said that winter season along with a rise in pollution causes a dual problem for the respiratory tract. Doctors are cautioning everyone to keep in mind the pandemic while celebrating Diwali. There are not only more cases of infection but mortality is also higher among pollution-affected patients.

Pollution itself cause inflammation of lungs. A moderate disease can turn severe because of pollution. In the antibody testing done as part of a sero-survey in Delhi, for every asymptomatic COVID-19 patient, there are 20-25 asymptomatic patients.

Doctors also revealed that they are seeing more patients who are asymptomatic in recent days.

One of India’s most renowned surgeons, Mumbai based Dr Hemant Thacker issued an important warning while speaking to India Today that the last three months can produce a wave of COVID-19 infections that can be deadly.

Don’t let the pollution, the cold, the crackers and covid fatigue you. Diwali is a festival of lights. Let the light enlighten each of our mind to be dutiful.

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India’s active coronavirus cases stood at 5,61,908 on Monday after a decrease of 8,550 in the past 24 hours. Of the 82,29,313 coronavirus cases in India, 75,44,798 have recovered with 53,285 new discharges on November 1.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 8,55,800 samples to detect coronavirus were tested on Sunday. Of these, 45,230 returned as positive for the infection. So far, India has tested 11,07,43,103 samples.

According to a new global analysis of advance market commitments (AMCs) for experimental vaccines till October 8, India has used its manufacturing capability to pre-order 600 million doses of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine and is negotiating for another billion doses, enough to vaccinate at least half the population.

The figures are second only to the US, which has pre-ordered 810 million confirmed doses and has another 1.6 billion under negotiation.

It will likely take three to four years to manufacture enough vaccines to cover the world’s population, but high-income countries and a few middle-income countries with manufacturing capacity such as India, have already purchased nearly 3.8 billion doses, with options for another five billion, showed an analysis of purchasing agreements for Covid-19 vaccines by the US-based Duke Global Health Innovation Center.

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According to the Health Ministry, the total coronavirus positive cases now stand at 14,35,453 including 4,85,114 active cases, 9,17,568 cured and 32,771 deaths. The recovery rate stand at 63.92 percent, according to the data.

This is the fifth consecutive day when covid-19 cases have increased by more than 45,000.

Maharashtra has reported 3,66,368 coronavirus cases, the highest in the country. A total of 2,06,737 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,29,531 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), a total of 1,68,06,803 samples have been tested upto July 26, with 5,15,472 samples being tested on July 26.

Meanwhile phase I human trials of Bharath Biotech’s Covaxin, India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidate, have started at most of the 12 sites selected by ICMR across the country. The Post-Graduate Institute (PGI) of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, has claimed encouraging results from first part of the tests.

Last week , AIIMS, Delhi, administered the first dose of Covaxin to a 30 year-old-man. Accordingto Clinical Trials Registry(CTRI), the Covaxin phase I and Phase II trials are now expected to take one year and three months.

Developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR and National Institute of Virology (NIV), Covaxin got the nod for human clinical trials from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) last month. Besides Covaxin, another experimental shot developed by Zydus Cadila has also begun human clinical trials.

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Total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 12,87,945 including 4,40,135 active cases and 8,17,209 cured.

Meanwhile, the southern states are turning to be the hotbed of coronavirus pandemic

Tamil Nadu and Kerala registered a record spike in COVID-19 numbers in the last two days .

The covid-19 cases continue to soar in Tamil Nadu with 6,462 cases recorded in the last 24 hours while a whopping 60,375 tests were also conducted . The total cases in the state is 1,92,964

Maharashtra has reported 3,47,502 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), 3,52,801 samples were tested for coronavirus on July 23 and overall 1,54,28,170 samples have been tested so far.

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“As per coronavirus protocol, I am going to quarantine myself,” Thakur told the media.

He then quarantined himself at his official residence at Oakover.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said the CM’s sample was taken for testing for coronavirus infection and his result came negative.

He said the CM’s wife and two other family members have also tested negative for the virus.

Dhiman said that a total of 63 samples were taken for testing –36 samples including those of the CM, his staff and security personnel posted at his official residence Oakover; and 27 of officials and other staff at his office in the state secretariat.

The ACS (Health) said that all the contacts of the deputy secretary in CM’s office who has tested positive were already asked to home-quarantine.

Dhiman said the CM’s office was fully disinfected and working in the Secretariat will be as usual on Thursday.

Meanwhile a cabinet minister in Shivraj Singh Chauhan government in Madhya Pradesh is among the 215 people who tested positive on July 22.

The concerned minister along with other ministers also attended the cabinet meeting chaired by the CM in Bhopal on July 22.

He had also attended the last rites of Governor Lajji Tandon in Lucknow on July 21.

So far, four BJP MLAs and three Congress MLAs, including ex-ministers have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state.

A ten day total lock-down has been ordered in Bhopal, starting from July 24 evening, in the wake of sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases since the last 10 days.

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With 1,129 fresh deaths the total death toll reached 29,861. A sigh of relief is that the recovery rate is at 63.18 per cent with as many as 7,82,607 cured, which is almost twice the number of active patients at 4,26,167.

India is the third-worst hit country and is now adding a lakh cases every three days.

The global tally of people infected with the coronavirus neared 15 million on Wednesday with the US being the worst hit pandemic hot-spot. More than 6,17,000 have succumbed to the infection worldwide.

United State President Donald Trump warned the pandemic would “get worse before it gets better.”

Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group Andrew Pollard said that India will have to manufacture a vaccine on an enormous scale to vaccinate a large proportion of the population. He also said that in order to ensure the availability of vaccines in every corner of the country, the government has to strategise a plan to deliver the vaccine on a scale that has never been seen before.

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As many as 648 fatalities were reported which increased the death toll to 28,732.

There are 4,11,133 active cases of the coronavirus infection currently in the country.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3,27,031 cases and 12,276 deaths. The second worst-hit state, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,80,643 covid-19 cases

Thirty states and Union Territories have COVID-19 positivity rate lower than that of the national average which stands at 8.07 percent, the Center said.

The Center said that its ultimate aim was to maintain the aggressive testing and bring down the positivity rate to below 5 percent.

As per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the total number of samples tested upto July 21 is 1,47,24,546 including 3,43,243 samples that were tested on July 21.

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The study also indicated that a large number of infected persons remain asymptomatic. The survey was conducted from 27th of June 2020 to 10th July 2020 and was conducted following a rigorous multi-stage sampling study design. It is one of the largest sero-prevalence studies conducted in the country using the ELISA testing.

For all the 11 districts of Delhi, survey teams were formed. Blood samples were collected from selected individuals after taking written informed consent and then their sera were tested for IgG antibodies and infection using COVID KAVACH ELISA approved by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

As many as 21,387 samples were collected as per lab standards and were tested. The tests helped in identification of presence of antibodies in the general population. This test performed is not a diagnostic test but only provides information about past infection due to SARSCoV-2 in individuals who test positive.

Antibody testing repeatedly done over time i.e. sero-surveillance, generates important evidence for assessing the spread of the pandemic from time to time.

The final analysis of the result was:

1. Nearly six months into the epidemic, only 23.48% of the people are affected in Delhi, which has several pockets of dense population. This can be attributed to the proactive efforts taken by the Government to prevent the spread of infection including prompt lockdown, effective containment and surveillance measures, including contact tracing and tracking, as well as citizen’s compliance to covid appropriate behaviours.

2. However, a significant proportion of the population is still vulnerable. Therefore, the containment measures need to continue with the same rigour. Non-pharmacological interventions such as physical distancing, use of face mask/cover, hand hygiene, cough etiquette and avoidance of crowded places etc. must be followed strictly.

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The total number of positive cases stand at 11,55,191 including 4,02,529 active cases and 7,24, 578 cured, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Results of sero-prevalence study show that nearly six months into the epidemic, only 23.48% of people are affected in the national capital, which has several pockets of dense population. The Government of India said that this can be attributed to efforts taken by government as well as citizens compliance to covid appropriate behaviour.

However there is some good news about the vaccine trials happening around the world.

Two potential vaccines to protect against the novel coronavirus- one from Oxford University and Astra Zeneca Plc and other from China’s CanSino Biologics- showed immune responses in healthy volunteers without causing dangerous side effects.

Doses of the vaccine were given to 1,077 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 in five UK hospitals in April and May as part of the phase one clinical trial and results, published in the Lancet’ medical journal.

The results show they induced strong antibody and T-cell immune responses for upto 56 days after they were given. T-cell is crucial for maintaining protection against the virus for years.

It also showed strong immune response in the 10 participants who received two doses of vaccination which indicated that it could be a good strategy.

With the trials of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University showing encouraging results, Serum Institute of India (SII) said it will apply for a license from the Indian regulator to start clinical trials of the shot in a week’s time.

SII, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it gets ready.

Globally, the virus has killed over 6,06,000 people and infected more than 14,538,000 people worldwide.

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In his address to the media, Dr Sudhakar said that the state government will bear the cost of the hike in salaries of the doctors and added that ASHA staff will also get a salary hike soon.

He also talked about the COVID-19 management in the state and said that testing will be increased in the containment zones.

During a meeting chaired by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, the Education Minister said that it was decided that booth level committees would conduct door to door surveys for early detection of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI).

He also urged private hospitals to admit and treat COVID-19 patients and asked them to not be hesitant in admitting pregnant women. This is in the light of a tragedy happened on July 19, where three hospitals denied medical assistance for a pregnant woman. The pregnant woman gave birth to the baby in an auto-rickshaw. However the baby died.

This is the second infant to die in Bengaluru over the past 10 days after alleged lack of assistance from hospitals.

Karnataka on July 20 registered 3,648 new covid-19 positive cases increasing the tally to 67,420. While 72 more persons succumbed to the virus. There are 42,216 active cases in the state.

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