Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Covovax To Get Approval As Booster In 10-15 Days, Says Adar Poonawalla
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Follow this page for all the latest updates on coronavirus from India and around the world.
Serum Institute of India chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla on Sunday said its Covovax vaccine will get approval as a booster in the next 10 to 15 days, adding it works well against the Omicron variant of coronavirus. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event at Bharti Vidyapeeth University here, Poonawalla, when asked about states and districts not getting Covishield vaccines, said there are ample stocks with the Union government for supply.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday praised the National Cadet Corps for its vital contribution during the tough times of COVID-19 and urged everyone to believe in Nation First ideology to make India progress socially and economically. Speaking at the National Cadet Corps Republic Day Camp 2023 in Delhi Cantonment on Sunday, Kejriwal assured the NCC of continued support.
India logged 163 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 2,423, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,79,924). The death toll stands at 5,30,720 with two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The ministry said that active cases comprise 0.01 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 percent. A decrease of 86 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,46,781, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 percent.
Maharashtra's Thane district has reported one new case of coronavirus, taking its infection count to 7,47,408, a health official said on Sunday.
He said the new case was recorded on Saturday, adding that there are currently 11 active COVID-19 cases in the district, which comes under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,971 and the recovery count stood at 7,36,194, he said.
China will lift its quarantine requirement for inbound travellers starting from January 8. It will also resume issuing visas for residents to travel overseas.
China's immigration authorities have said that they will start receiving applications for issuing passports for tourism and visits abroad beginning January 8, NHK World reported.
The easing came days after mainland China diluted its harsh COVID zero policy and slightly lifted its restrictions on international travellers.
China has said it will no longer impose criminal charges on those violating Covid-19 "prevention and control measures or provisions on frontier health and quarantine" starting January 8, the Chinese state media reported citing a circular released by authorities on Saturday. "Relevant cases in the process of handling should be handled in a timely and prompt manner in accordance with provisions of the Criminal
Law and the Criminal Procedure Law," the document read, according to Xinhua news agency. The circular adds that suspects and defendants in custody for such violations should be released in accordance with the laws, and properties involved in the cases that are sealed up, seized, or frozen should be freed.
On January 8, China will downgrade its management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B, and remove COVID-19 from its list of quarantinable infectious diseases, according to Xinhua.
China's State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 released the 10th edition of the virus prevention and control protocol on Saturday, Global Times reported. The new plan has stressed on monitoring of mutated variants and early warning as well as the protection of key groups by preventing severe cases.
The 10th edition of the virus prevention and control protocol has been released in accordance to the decision to downgrade the epidemic management from Class A to Class B. The new version of the COVID-19 prevention and control plan calls for increased vaccination and self-protection and stresses on enhancing the monitoring of new variants and the use of the national influenza surveillance network.
554 national influenza surveillance sentinel hospitals are needed to conduct influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) surveillance, as per the national influenza surveillance network, according to the Global Times report. Notably, people entering China will no longer be required to undergo COVID-19 tests from January 8.
For virus mutation tracing, the new version needs the collection of samples from outpatient and emergency cases, severe cases, and deaths in sentinel hospitals in representative cities and among entry personnel at land, air, and sea ports to conduct whole-genome sequencing. The results need to be reported to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Institute of Virology to trace new mutant strains in a timely way.
The new plan also requires regions to select qualified cities to conduct monitoring of COVID-19 in urban sewage, which could help assess the intensity of the epidemic and get aware of the changing trend and virus mutation, as per the Global Times report.
Background
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According to data from the Union health ministry, India registered 214 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, while the number of active cases slightly increased to 2,509.
With this, the overall COVID-19 case count has increased to 4.46 billion (4,46,79,761). The data updated at 8 am showed that four deaths — two reconciled by Kerala, one each reported from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh — occurred in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 5,30,718.
The rate of everyday positives was 0.11 percent. The health ministry website states that the weekly positive rate was 0.12 per cent. The ministry reported that the number of active cases is 0.01 percent of all infections and that the national COVID-19 recovery rate has risen to 98.80 per cent.
Covid Cases Increasing Globally, Precautions Being Taken, Says Mansukh Mandaviya
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stated on Saturday that cases of Covid variants are increasing globally, and necessary precautions are being taken.
He further said that any traveller from one of the five listed countries must present a negative RTPCR report. The number of Covid positive passengers increased to 120 last week. All positive travellers were taken to isolation centres for treatment, news agency ANI reported citing the health minister.
Ahead Of Scrapping Travel Restrictions, China Orders Release Of Covid Detainees:
The Chinese government ordered the release of those imprisoned in connection with a number of coronavirus-related cases on Saturday, a day before Beijing plans to rescind its three-year-old stringently enforced zero-Covid policy.
China will lift its international isolation at 12 am on Sunday, allowing unrestricted access to its airports and ports amid a large coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Once the limitations are lifted, international travellers will be able to enter China without having to undergo nucleic acid tests or undergo quarantine.
The entire repeal of the travel restrictions comes at a time when China is dealing with a surge in coronavirus infections caused by Omicron strains, following the government's relaxation of its tight zero-Covid policy last month in response to a wave of anti-government protests.
(With Agency Inputs)
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