Coronavirus in India updates: Rajasthan logs 3,728 new cases, 17 deaths in 24 hrs

Rajasthan reported 3,728 new COVID-19 cases and 17 deaths in the last 24 hours. As many as 7,177 more people recovered from COVID-19. Currently, 33,812 patients are undergoing treatment in the state, the data showed as per PTI. 

Himachal Pradesh reported 653 COVID-19 new cases and one death in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases in the state has come down to 4,421 from 4,812 on Tuesday, an official said, as per PTI.

Mumbai reported 441 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours which is the third consecutive day when the city logged less than 500 cases. On Monday, Mumbai had logged 356 COVID-19 cases- the lowest daily rise after December 21, 2021 when the third wave of the pandemic started. The day before the city had recorded 447 cases and only one fatality. Mumbai's positivity rate now stands at 1.16% the BMC said, adding that Mumbai is now left with 4,096 active cases.

Karanataka reported 5,339 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 39,12,100. The state also logged 48 deaths taking the total number to 39,495, as per PTI. 

Tripura reported 18 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the caseload rose to 1,00,715. The number is 16 less than the number of infections reported on Tuesday (34). Meanwhile, no deaths were reported in the state and the number of active cases stands at 535.

Delhi has reported 1,317 new COVID-19 cases along with 13 deaths in the last 24 hours. The authorities revealed that the positivity rate in Delhi stands at 2.11%.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in its latest notice released on February 9, announced that it will conduct the term-2 board exams for Class 10 and 12 in offline mode from April 26, 2022. "This decision was taken due to the uncertainty arising out of COVID-19 pandemic", the notice read.

Kerala logged 23,253 fresh infections in the last 24 hours taking the overall caseload to 63,46,631. The state also saw 854 deaths along with 47,882 recoveries, as per PTI. As of Tuesday, the number of active cases was 2,83,676. 

According to a new study published recently in the journal Nature, combining the antiviral remdesivir or molnupiravir with the experimental drug brequinar blocks the reproduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that causes COVID-19, in lung cells and in mice. 

Identifying combinations of antivirals is really important, not only because doing so may increase the drugs' potency against the coronavirus, but combining drugs also reduces the risk of resistance,” said study principal investigator Sara Cherry, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, as per PTI.

They screened 18,000 drugs in search of antiviral activity, using live SARS-CoV-2 infection in human respiratory cells, because lungs are the major target for the virus.

The researchers identified 122 drugs that showed antiviral activity and selectivity against the coronavirus, including 16 nucleoside analogs, the largest category of antivirals that are used clinically.

Meghalaya reported 125 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours which pushed the tally to 92,646. The state also saw two deaths and it now has 1,098 active cases. Meanwhile, 89,994 patients have so far recovered from the disease, PTI reported.

Puducherry reported 198 new COVID-19 cases which took its overall tally to 1,64,760. According to a Health Department official, two more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,955, PTI reported.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed that over one crore youngsters between 15-18 age group have been vaccinated against COVID-19. What a historic feat by Young India! Over crore youngsters between 15-18 age group are now fully vaccinated against #COVID19", Mandaviya wrote in his tweet.

AIIMS Delhi, in its latest circular released on February 9 announced that it will discontinue the routine COVID-19 testing before inpatient hospitalization and surgeries. The circular said that the testing is not necessary for clinically asymptomatic patients. 

Thane reported 209 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 7,06,179, as per PTI. Five more people also succumbed to the viral infection, which pushed the death toll in the district to 11,830,

Himachal Pradesh's state cabinet has decided to lift the night curfew as cases COVID-19 continue to lower. The state would also allow all social, religious, cultural, political and other congregations including weddings and funerals at 50% capacity.

"With the administration of more than 53.61 lakh Doses (53,61,099) vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 170.87 Cr (1,70,87,06,705) as per provisional reports till 7 am today," it stated. 

Odisha's COVID-19 death toll rose to 8,797 on Wednesday as 22 more fatalities were reported, while 1,712 new infections pushed the caseload to 12,71,523, a health department bulletin said.

The state had reported 1,503 new COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths on Tuesday.

Of the 22 new COVID-19 fatalities, 14 were from the Khurda district, it said.

Khurda district reported 257 new COVID-19 cases followed by Cuttack (104), Angul (79), Balasore (54), Jajpur and Mayurbhanj (53 cases each).

The daily positivity rate declined to 2.59 per cent as 1,712 infections were detected out of 66,021 samples tested in the last 24 hours.

Odisha currently has 17,647 active COVID-19 cases, including 3,910 in Khurda district, which is in the red zone. Sundargarh and Cuttack districts are in the yellow zone with over 1,000 cases.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is set to release a new book, called “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic”, which the billionaire philanthropist announced on Tuesday, writing that he believes that COVID-19 can be the last pandemic. According to a blog post, the book, which is expected to be released on May 3, contains suggestions on ways to provide better health care around the world and tools needed for the early fight against viruses. The book also discusses Bill Gates’ views on vaccines and on what it has felt like to become the target of conspiracy theories. 

“Whenever I see the suffering that COVID has created - every time I read about the latest death toll or hear about someone who lost their job or drive by a school that is closed - I can’t help but think: We don’t have to do this again,” he wrote in a blog post announcing the publication of ‘How to Prevent the Next Pandemic’.

The Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray or FabiSpray has been designed to kill the COVID virus in the upper airways of our tracts. The spray which has proven antimicrobial properties will have a direct virucidal effect on SARS-CoV-2 and will act as a physical and chemical barrier against the virus when sprayed over the nasal mucosa further preventing it from incubating and spreading to the lungs. The company has also claimed to provide a safe and effective treatment option through their nasal spray. 

Meanwhile, the Phase III trials of the nasal spray among adult COVID-19 patients have been successfully completed across 20 clinical centres in India where a total of 306 patients were evaluated. 

Active COVID-19 cases in Ladakh declined to 773 with 179 coronavirus patients being cured, while 70 fresh cases were recorded, taking the overall caseload to 27,062, officials said on Wednesday.

The union territory has recorded 226 Covid-related deaths so far with 167 in Leh and 59 in Kargil, they said.

There was no death reported from the Union Territory on Tuesday, they said.

Of the 70 fresh cases, 39 were reported from Leh district and 31 from Kargil district, they said.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 active cases in Ladakh is 773 including 511 cases in Leh and 262 cases in Kargil district. 

What is FabiSpray?

Formulated to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus while it prevails in the upper tracts, FabiSpray has proven to contain anti-microbial properties with a direct effect on the virus, leading to its destruction. The usage noted that the Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray (NONS), upon being sprayed over nasal mucosa, acts as a physical and chemical barrier to the virus, thus preventing its entry and incubation into one's lungs.

FabiSpray's price

While the market price of Glenmark's COVID-19 nasal spray is unknown so far, Glenmark Pharmaceutical's share price rose 2% on the morning of February 9, right after the product was launched for Indian patients. The entity was quoting at Rs 494.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, the shared projected an up Rs 9.90 or 2.04% at the BSE.

Read more about FabiSpray's availability

COVID-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 9,943 on Wednesday as 18 people tested positive for the infection, eight more than the previous day, a health bulletin said.

Three new patients have travel history, while 15 infections were detected during contact tracing, it said.

The Union territory now has 178 active cases, while 9,636 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 32 in the last 24 hours.

The death toll remained unchanged at 129 as no fresh fatality was recorded, it said.

The administration has thus far tested over 6.88 lakh samples for COVID-19, and inoculated more than 3 lakh people with two doses of the vaccine. 

It’s too early to know for sure, but many doctors believe it’s possible to have long-term effects from the omicron variant of the virus.

Long COVID is usually diagnosed many weeks after a bout with COVID-19. Any long-lasting effects typically appear about 90 days after symptoms of the initial infection go away, Maria Van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization said this week.

Overall, some estimates suggest more than a third of COVID-19 survivors will develop some symptoms of long COVID. Symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, anxiety and other problems. The lingering illness is more likely if you’ve been hospitalized with COVID-19, but research shows it can happen even after a mild infection.

Omicron began its race around the world late last year. The variant generally causes milder illness than the delta version of the coronavirus but has still overwhelmed hospitals.

Van Kerkhove said she hasn’t seen any research indicating that the portion of COVID-19 survivors who get long COVID will change with the omicron variant.

Dr Linda Geng of Stanford University, who co-directs one of the many clinics specializing in long COVID, said that though she can’t say for sure, a new wave of patients is likely.

“We have to be very cautious and very careful and prepared,” Geng said.

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Jharkhand continued to register a decline in fresh COVID-19 cases as 264 people tested positive for the infection on Saturday, 16 less than the previous day, taking the state's caseload to 4,32,169, a health bulletin said.

The death toll rose to 5,314 as one more patient succumbed to the infection in Dhanbad, it said.

The state had recorded 280 cases and two deaths on Tuesday.

Jharkhand now has 2,272 active cases, while 4,24,583 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 412 on Tuesday, the bulletin said.

The recovery rate stood at 98.24 per cent, while the mortality rate was at 1.22 per cent.

The administration has tested about 2.02 crore samples for COVID-19 thus far, including 49,883 in the last 24 hours. 

World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said that 500,000 COVID-19 deaths had been registered since the Omicron variant was discovered. Calling it “beyond tragic”, WHO incident manager Abdi Mahamud said that around 130 million coronavirus infections and half a million deaths had been recorded across the globe since the Omicron (B.1.1.529) was declared as a variant of concern by the United Nations (UN) health agency. 

The Omicron variant, first flagged by South African health experts in November, has since then rapidly taken over Delta as the world’s dominant COVID-19 variant because it is more transmissible even though it appears to cause mild illness. In a live interaction on WHO’s social media channels, the WHO incident manager lamented that with the COVID-19 vaccines being developed and still 500,000 deaths occurring is “really something.” 

He added, “While everyone was saying Omicron is milder, (they) missed the point that half a million people have died since this was detected.”

Glenmark launches Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray(FabiSpray) in India for the treatment of adult patients with COVID-19, in partnership with SaNOtize. It received manufacturing-marketing approval from India’s drug regulator for Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray as part of an accelerated approval process.

India logged 71,365 new coronavirus infections taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,24,10,976, while the active cases declined to 8,92,828, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,05,279 with 1,217 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 2.11 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.70 per cent, the ministry said.

A reduction of 1,02,063 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

India reports 71,365 fresh COVID-19 cases, 1,72,211 recoveries and 1,217 deaths in the last 24 hours. Active cases: 8,92,828 (2.11%) Death toll: 5,05,279 Daily positivity rate: 4.54% Total vaccination coverage: 1,70,87,06,705

Tripura reported 34 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, taking the caseload to 1,00,697, while one more coronavirus death took the toll to 916, a health official said.

The state had reported 13 new cases COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Monday.

A total of 3,541 samples were taken up for COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, out of which 34 tested positive with a positivity rate of 0.96 per cent, State Surveillance Officer Dr Deep Debbarma said.

The state now has 596 COVID-19 active cases, while 99,117 people have recovered so far.

Altogether 68 coronavirus patients have been migrated to other states. 

Goa reported 469 new coronavirus infections and 12.49 per cent case positivity on Tuesday, the state health department said.

Six persons succumbed to the viral infection during the day.

The caseload rose to 2,43,128 while death toll reached 3,754.

The number of recovered persons increased to 2,35,444 with 910 patients getting discharged on Tuesday.

As many as 3,162 coronavirus tests were carried out during the day, taking the tally of samples tested in the state to 18,39,677.

Goa's COVID-19 figures: Total cases 2,43,128, New cases 469, Death toll 3,754, Discharged 2,35,444, Active cases 3,930, Samples tested to date 18,39,677. 

Addressing the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour on February 8, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Centre has not hidden the COVID fatalities number and the same is compiled after data received from states and UTs. 

"Around 5.33 lakh death have been reported in the country so far out of which Kerala has reconciled more than 20,000 deaths," Mandaviya said while responding to a query posed by Congress' KC Venugopal. 

The highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been discovered in white-tailed deer on Staten Island in the United States (US), marking the first time the variant has been detected in wild animals. The recent development adds to a growing body of data that the virus is easily transmitted to white-tailed deer. The findings are likely to heighten fears that deer, which are widely distributed across the United States and live in close proximity to humans, could serve as a virus reservoir and a source of new COVID variants.

The coronavirus was earlier reported to be widespread in deer in Iowa in late 2020 and areas of Ohio in early 2021, according to researchers. According to Lyndsay Cole, a spokesperson for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, infections in deer have been confirmed in 13 more states: Illinois, Arkansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Virginia and Tennessee. However, these animals had been infected with the older variants of COVID.

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Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said there has been 5.33 lakh deaths so far from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. He also informed that insurance claims worth Rs 808 crore have been paid under the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package' (PMGKP) insurance scheme, launched on March 30, 2020, to families of 1,616 healthcare workers who died while being involved in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Replying to a supplementary question asked by Congress MP KC Venugopal related to Covid deaths in Rajya Sabha, Mandaviya said health is a state subject and the related data is collected by the states and then reported to the central government.

He said the World Health Organisation has issued guidelines on collecting the data on COVID-19 deaths.

Based on these guidelines, the Centre has created a platform and asked the states to submit the data on COVID-19 deaths on it, he added.

"So far, all the state governments have submitted data of 5.33 lakh deaths from COVID-19," Mandaviya said.

The minister asserted that the data is in the public domain and the Centre has nothing to hide.

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Rajasthan on Tuesday reported 3,479 fresh COVID-19 cases and 16 more deaths due to the viral disease, according to health department data.

Jaipur reported 1,140 fresh cases, Jodhpur 300, Udaipur 221, Ganganagar 174, Alwar 120, Kota 119 and Bhilwara 112, the data showed.

Of the latest deaths, four were reported from Jaipur; two each from Bikaner and Jodhpur; and one each from Ajmer, Alwar, Baran, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Kota, Sikar and Sirohi.

So far, 9,407 people have succumbed to COVID-19 in Rajasthan, the data stated.

As per the information on Co-WIN, 28,22,459 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to pregnant women till February 2, Rajya Sabha was informed Tuesday.

Out of 28,22,459 vaccine doses, 16,53,768 beneficiaries have received the first dose and 11,68,691 women have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply.

The government is aware of the WHO's interim recommendation on COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant and lactating women in June 2021. States and UTs have been provided detailed guidance on preparing counselling and vaccination plan for them, she said.

A communication strategy is in place which is implemented across all states and Union Territories with a focus to sustain vaccine confidence, the minister said to PTI.

Italy is all set to remove the COVID-19 mandatory rule of wearing face masks in all outdoor places from Friday, 11 February as the nation witnesses a decline in the number of infections. The announcement regarding the new measure planned by the health ministry has been confirmed by deputy health minister Andrea Costa, Local Italy reported, citing Italian news agency Ansa. Presently, people in Italy were mandated to wear face masks in all indoor and outdoor public places, as per the directive issued last year in December following the rise in COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. 

The removal of the mask mandate was earlier expected in low risk 'white' zones only. However, Andrea Costa has now informed that the government has decided to remove the mask-wearing rule in outdoor places regardless of the region's COVID-19 risk classification under the four-tiered system, as per The Local Italy report. According to Costa, the rule no longer applies to the people who have been vaccinated under a new decree in force from 5 February.  

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Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer have tested negative for COVID-19 and had a light training session in Ahemdabad ahead of the second ODI against West Indies. Navdeep Saini who was selected as a bowler has also recovered and was seen training. Reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad is still in isolation and recovering from the coronavirus.

The virus had hit the Indian team on February 2 and as a result, all three players missed the historic 1000th ODI of the Indian cricket team. The coronavirus infected four players and three non-playing staff. The Indian team is led by Rohit Sharma in his first series as a full-time ODI captain. India is leading 1-0 in the three-match ODI series and will be looking to finish off the series on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahemdabad.

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