Coronavirus News Highlights: Today is the 346th day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. So far, India has recorded 1,11,73,761 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 1,57,548 deaths. A total of 1,08,39,894 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far. There are 1,76,319 active cases in the country as of date, which comprises 1.58 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India's recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 97.01 percent. Globally, more than 11.55 crore people have been infected by the coronavirus and 25.67 lakh have died so far. India has begun the second phase of the vaccination drive in which everyone above 60 years of age and those over 45 years with comorbidities will be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine. India's regulator has granted restricted emergency use approval for two vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India has crossed 1.77 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry.
Lok Sabha Secretariate to set up a COVID-19 vaccination centre in Parliament House Medical Centre for vaccination of MPs & their family members; vaccination to take place from March 9 in accordance with prioritization as guided by National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration.
Night curfew imposed in four districts of Punjab amid rising coronavirus cases.
562 new coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu in the past 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 8.55 lakh. There are 3,952 active cases in the state; with 4 new COVID-19 deaths, Tamil Nadu’s total COVID-19 death tally has risen to 12,517: State Health Bulletin
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 2.06 crores (2,06,62,073) on March 6: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
People from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab will need to produce negative RT-PCR test certificates to enter Rajasthan: State Home Department
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has sent a proposal to the Central government to fix the MRP of 100 mg Remdesivir Injection for COVID-19 treatment.
2,791 new COVID-19 cases, 16 deaths and 3,517 recoveries were reported in Kerala on March 6. There are 42,819 active cases in Kerala at the moment, and the total death toll is 4,287. The recovered COVID-19 cases stand at 10,27,826. A total of 61,764 samples were tested for the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, LP on Saturday announced preliminary results from Ridgebacks Phase 2a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA of Molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral agent.
The companies on March 6 reported findings on one secondary objective from the Phase 2a study, showing a reduction in time (days) to negativity of infectious virus isolation in nasopharyngeal swabs from participants with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, as determined by isolation in Vero cell line culture. -- IANS
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan & NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr Vinod Paul today interacted with health secretaries & MDs (NHM) of Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi & Chandigarh where an increased number of COVID-19 cases have been seen. The States & UTs exhibiting surge in daily new COVID-19 cases and high active caseload were urged to return to fundamentals of “Test, Track and Treat”: Union Health Ministry.
Saudi Arabia will end most coronavirus-related restrictions on Sunday, including resuming indoor dining, reopening cinemas, and resuming entertainment activities and events, the state news agency SPA said on Saturday. Some activities will remain banned, including weddings and corporate meetings. Social gatherings will continue to be limited to a maximum of 20 people, SPA said, citing an interior ministry source.
Tucked in the Tuscan hills around Siena in Italy, a research lab has come up with an antibody treatment for Covid-19 that its developers say will be 80 times more potent than the one given to former US President Donald Trump in his most critical days in hospital last year.
The therapy is derived from the blood of people who’ve recovered from Covid, and relies on 453 different antibodies. It will also be administered as a single shot rather than a drawn-out infusion, which has been the norm for similar drugs. Clinical trials of about 3,000 doses produced so far started in Italy Thursday, and a roll out for general use could be approved as early as this summer.
“The focus of our work has been on dosage," said Fabrizio Landi, president of the Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, the promoter of the project. “When Trump received an antibodies drug he had to have an hours-long infusion. We are aiming at getting to a dose 80 times more powerful than the one he got."
The Central Government has rushed high level multi-disciplinary public health teams to Maharashtra and Punjab in view of the increase in number of daily new COVID-19 cases being consistently reported by these States. "They are being deployed to assist the State Health Departments in COVID-19 surveillance, control and containment measures," said a government statement.
"The high-level team to Maharashtra will be led by Dr. P Ravindran, Sr. CMO, Disaster Management Cell, MOHFW. While the public health team to Punjab will be led by Dr. S K Singh, Director, National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi,"it further added.
The European Union will urge the United States to permit the export of millions of doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to Europe, underlining Brussels' scramble to bridge supply shortfalls, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. The EU also wants Washington to ensure the free flow of shipments of crucial vaccine ingredients needed in European production, according to the FT. "We trust that we can work together with the U.S. to ensure that vaccines produced or bottled in the U.S. for the fulfilment of vaccine producers' contractual obligations with the EU will be fully honoured,” the newspaper quoted the European Commission as saying.
