Budget 2018-19

  Omicron was first detected in southern Africa last month and has triggered global alarm as governments fear another surge in infections South Africa is preparing its hospitals for more admissions, as the  Omicron coronavirus variant  pushes the country into a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday. Omicron was first detected in southern Africa last month and has triggered global alarm as governments fear another surge in infections. South Africa’s daily infections surged last week to more than 16,000 on Friday from roughly 2,300 on Monday. Ramaphosa said in a weekly newsletter that Omicron appeared to be dominating new cases in most of the country’s nine provinces and urged more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. “ South Africa  now has sufficient supplies of vaccines, …vaccination is essential for our economic recovery because as more people are vaccinated more areas of economic activity will be opened up,” he said. The gov...

  Amid surging Delta variant cases in the US, COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than 12 years could be available by the end of next month, a media report has said. Amid surging  Delta variant  cases in the US, COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than 12 years could be available by the end of next month, a media report has said. A report in The New York Times quoted two health experts as saying that COVID vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 could be available as soon as the end of October, bringing relief to parents of younger children since vaccines are only available for children aged 12 and above. The NYT report quoted Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration who also sits on the board of Pfizer, as saying that getting the green light for younger children will require careful and expeditious review of the clinical data. Gottlieb said on the CBS show Face the Nation that in a best-case scenario, the  Pfizer  vaccine c...

  A single dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine offers around 60 per cent protection against infection A single dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine offers around 60 per cent protection against infection from SARS-CoV-2 in adults aged 65 years and above, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. To obtain real-world data on the effectiveness of these vaccines in care homes, the researchers from the University College London (UCL) in the UK used data from the VIVALDI study. That research investigated SARS-CoV-2 transmission, infection outcomes, and immunity in residents and staff in long-term care facilities in England for adults aged 65 years and older since June 2020. This analysis included long-term care facility residents undergoing routine asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 testing between December 8, 2020 — the date the first vaccine was administered in the study cohort — and March 15, 2021 using national testing data linked within the COVID-19...

  America’s top public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci has called for a scale-up in manufacture of coronavirus vaccines both domestically and globally to fight the deadly pandemic Getting people vaccinated is the only long-term solution to the current COVID-19 crisis in India, America’s top public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday as he called for scaling up manufacturing of coronavirus vaccines both domestically and globally to fight the deadly pandemic. The endgame of this all…is going to be to get people vaccinated…India is the largest vaccine-producing country in the world. They’ve got to get their resources, not only from within, but also from without, Fauci, who is the Chief Medical Adviser to US President Joe Biden, told the ABC News in an interview. That’s the reason why other countries need to chip in to be able to get either supplies to the Indians to make their own  Coronavirus vaccines  or to get vaccines donated. One of the ways to do tha...

  Punjab government on Sunday issued that no one will be allowed to enter the state without a negative Covid-19 test result or a vaccine certificate As COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country, the Punjab government on Sunday issued that no one will be allowed to enter the state without a negative COVID-19 test result or a vaccine certificate. In a set of new guidelines to curb the spread of the virus, the state government further said that all non-essential shops would be closed till May 15. “Nobody to enter the state whether by air, rail or road without either a  COVID negative  report or vaccination certificate. In addition, all non-essential shops will continue to remain closed till May 15,” the order said. It added, “The daily night curfew from 6 pm to 5 am and a weekend curfew from 6 pm on Friday till 5 am on Monday will continue. RT-PCR testing of road and streetwise vendors to be carried out.” In the last 24 hours, Punjab reported 7,327 fresh COVID-19 ca...

  Union health ministry has issued a revised guidelines, recommending the EUA/off-label use of Tocilizumab drug in case of severe diseases, preferably within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of the disease The Union health ministry on Thursday issued a revised ‘Clinical Guidance for Management of Adult COVID-19 Patients’ recommending the EUA/off-label use of Tocilizumab drug in case of severe diseases, preferably within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of the disease or ICU admission. The guidelines issued by AIIMS, ICMR-COVID-19 National Task Force and the Joint Monitoring Group (DGHS) under the ministry stated that Tocilizumab (a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning) may be considered in patients with significantly raised inflammatory markers and not improving despite use of steroids with there being no active bacterial/fungal/tubercular infection. They also recommended off-label use of convalescent plasma only in the early moderate disease, preferably within seven days ...

  Researchers have now documented human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, that occurred during the pandemic in the UK Researchers have now documented human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, that occurred during the pandemic in the UK, with the infected cats displaying mild or severe respiratory disease. The research provides fresh evidence that people have transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to cats during the pandemic in the UK. The study, which is published in Veterinary Record, detected the virus last year in cats that developed mild or severe respiratory disease. Investigators used a range of laboratory techniques to show that two domestic cats from households with suspected cases of Covid-19 were infected with SARS-CoV-2. “Given the ability of the coronavirus to infect companion animals, it will be important to monitor for human-to-cat, cat-to-cat and cat-to-human transmission,” said lead author Margaret Hosie of the MRC-Uni...

  Also, continued collaboration across institutions was necessary to come out of the current situation as well as ward off catastrophic situations, he said Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director General Shekhar C Mande on Sunday warned that the COVID-19 crisis was far from being over and allowing a “third wave” by lowering our guard is fraught with grave consequences.Also, continued collaboration across institutions was necessary to come out of the current situation as well as ward off catastrophic situations arising out of climate change and over dependence on fossil fuels which had the potential to wipe out the entire humanity, he said Mande was speaking on “India’s response to Covid-19 from S & T perspective” at a virtual “National Science Day Lectures,” organised by Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology here. The expert clarified that India is nowhere near achieving herd immunity and as such people should continue to wear masks and maintain social dis...

  Ahead of World Diabetes Day, a new report has called for action to close the gap in diabetes prevention and care Ahead of World Diabetes Day (November 14), a new report has called for action to close the gap in diabetes prevention and care. Worldwide, 463 million people have diabetes, with 80% from low-income and middle- income countries (LMICs). In 2019, 4.2 million people died as a result of the condition and its complications. On average, diabetes reduces life expectancy in middle-aged people by 4-10 years and independently increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and cancer by 1.3-3 times. Diabetes is among the leading causes of non-traumatic leg and foot amputations and blindness, especially among people of working age. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of people with diabetes. People with diabetes are at least 2 times increased risk of severe disease or death from the virus, especially in individuals with poorly controll...

  Indonesia will at the first phase provide the Covid-19 vaccine to 9.1 million people between November and December 2020 Indonesia will at the first phase provide the COVID-19 vaccine to 9.1 million people between November and December 2020, the Health Ministry’s Disease Control and Prevention Director General Achmad Yurianto said. The first phase of vaccination will be carried out on the groups of people with highest risk of COVID-19 infections, namely medical and public service workers including airport employees, soldiers and police personnel, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. Yurianto said that the vaccine would only be given to people aged between 18 years old and 59 years old, because clinical trials of vaccine candidates in the world have yet to target categories outside that age range. The vaccination will be carried out after the Indonesian Drug and Food Supervisory Agency (BPOM) issues an emergency use authorization and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) provides ha...

  Cinema halls and multiplexes will reopen in several parts of the country today with 50% capacity and seats will be marked ‘not to be occupied’ for ensuring physical distancing to combat Covid-19 After a gap of seven months, cinema halls and multiplexes will reopen in several parts of the country today with 50 percent capacity and seats will be marked ‘not to be occupied’ for ensuring physical distancing to combat COVID-19. Cinema hall owners in cities like Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Chennai and Delhi have ensured the safety of their customers by enforcing the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines that include sanitisation of the halls, social distancing, paperless tickets, and theatres limited to 50 percent occupancy at a time. Speaking to ANI, Gagan Kapoor, Regional head of Delhi  PVR Cinemas  said that theatres will follow safety guidelines announced by the MHA along with the global standards defined by the Global Cinema Federation (GCF). “PVR has involved several goodw...

  Takeda Pharmaceutical said an alliance of drugmakers it spearheads has enrolled its first patient in a global clinical trial of a blood plasma treatment for Covid-19 after months of regulatory delays TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co said on Friday an alliance of drugmakers it spearheads has enrolled its first patient in a global clinical trial of a blood plasma treatment for COVID-19 after months of regulatory delays. The phase 3 trial by the group, known as the CoVIg Plasma Alliance, aims to enroll 500 adult patients from the United States, Mexico and 16 other countries, according to a statement. Patients will be treated with Gilead Science Inc’s Remdesivir alongside the  plasma treatment , which will be provided by CSL Behring, Takeda and two other companies. “We are hopeful that data from the clinical trial will be available before the end of the year,” Bill Mezzanotte, chief medical officer of CSL Behring, said in the release. The group had aimed to beg...

Summer is upon us and during the said season extra precautions are required to protect oneself against the heat and the sun. Health : Summer is upon us and during the said season extra precautions are required to protect oneself against the heat and the sun. Exposure to sun certainly helps in healing certain diseases, it also allows vitamin D to bind calcium to the bones, but overexposure to sun and ultraviolet rays especially in summers can also be very harmful and the reason for sunburns, dehydration and even skin cancer. In summers special emphasis should be made for the protection of the skin and the eyes. To avoid sunburn this summer, it is necessary that one gradually expose himself or herself to the sun. This leaves the skin time to make a pigment, melanin, which forms a kind of protective shield. Other basic protective methods include applying of a sunscreen that matches one's skin type; wearing protective gears such as sunglasses, hat, cap or scarf and avoid...