'Scientific data has proven that masks can reduce COVID-91 transmission by 53 per cent...A booster dose of vaccine, even if it works, is just a temporary fix'
'In the likelihood that Omicron is circulating, you have a much greater chance of getting infected now, than you did during the Age of Delta.'
It also demanded that the government expedite the proposal of vaccinating individuals aged 12 to 18 years.
PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by ITC, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, NTPC and Tech Mahindra. NSE Nifty advanced 117.15 points to 17,072.60.
Days after it faced nationwide anti-government protests against its stringent zero-Covid policy, China in a major shift of its coronavirus response policies has announced that it will scrap quarantine for international travellers from January 8 as it reopens its borders and comes out of international isolation after nearly three years.
Experts said the strain has not propelled a surge in cases like Omicron, but advised strict adherence to COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.
"In children, fortunately, infections with SARS-CoV-2 are generally not severe. There is a risk of long COVID, there is a risk of a very, very rare condition called MISC (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome) but by and large healthy children have nothing," said Dr Gagandeep Kang, leading Indian virologist.
The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India may peak by February 3, 2022, claims a modelling study by researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
The coronavirus pandemic has taught that viruses cannot be taken lightly, and the unpredictability in emerging scenarios of health have to be respected and addressed, Paul noted.
Beijing's health officials on Monday announced 29 fresh cases taking the total cases to 70 in the city.
The COVID-19 vaccines can be "tweaked" to provide protection against new variants of the virus, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, Director Dr Randeep Guleria said.
'If your oxygen saturation is okay and is maintained after the six-minute walk test -- which has been described all over the world -- and you do not have an unrelenting fever, then you can even be managed at home.'
A one-day complete lockdown to tackle the rapidly rising COVID-19 cases was enforced across Tamil Nadu on Sunday while police, local and health authorities stepped up measures to check violations.
'If the government does its job of vaccinating all the population with the booster dose, and also monitoring the virus, and we do our job of wearing a mask and avoiding crowded places, we will be free of this virus in a few months.' time.'
The Kerala government imposed fresh restrictions in the state as a preventive measure to contain the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Stressing on the need to protect both lives and livelihoods, he said public health action in India and across the world must be continually guided by evidence from four key questions -- how transmissible is the variant, severity of the disease it causes, how well vaccines and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection protect and how common people perceive risk and follow control measures.
The Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital, the mainstay of the city's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, now has "zero patient" admitted at the facility, the first time since March 2020, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday.
2.75 million of the 3 million Covid-related health claims were settled.
Biological E Limited plans to complete production at a rate of 75 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax per month, anticipating over 100 million doses per month from February 2022 which will enable the Hyderabad-based company to deliver 300 Million doses as promised to the Centre, BE said on Tuesday.
Making citizens queue to vote just when the disease is declining, but is still in the air, could just cause a fresh spurt. The logic for this scheduling is inexplicable, especially since the entire process could so easily have been pushed back by three weeks, argues David Devadas.
People must be vigilant, follow all safety norms and not let a sense of complacency set in, several doctors said a day after the positivity rate in the city was --- the highest in two months.
'Good investment opportunities should not be missed.'
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian on Tuesday exuded confidence that India would achieve double-digit growth in the current financial year on the back of policy initiatives and continuing reforms. He also said the country is well poised to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of GDP. "At this stage, I can say confidently that we should be able to achieve that fiscal deficit number. "Any shortfalls that might happen on the disinvestment side will also be accompanied by positive surprises that have happened on tax revenue," he told reporters.
The positivity rate too has climbed from 1.92 per cent registered on June 7 to 7.01 per cent on June 15, as per official figures.
'During the course of these two years, as new people have joined, we have no mental picture to associate with them and hence, have little connection with them.'
The Indian economy remains on track to regain its position as the world's fastest-growing major economy after official estimates on Friday put the expansion at a tempered 9.2 per cent this fiscal amid concerns over the impact of a resurgent virus on the fragile recovery. The growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) of 9.2 per cent in April 2021 to March 2022 fiscal (FY 2021-22) given by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in its first advance estimate compares with 9.5 per cent expansion forecast by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month. The economy had contracted by 7.3 per cent in the previous financial year.
The number of new COVID-19 cases increased exponentially by 71 per cent globally during the week December 27-January 2 as compared to the previous week, while the number of new deaths decreased by 10 per cent, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday, as the new Omicron variant led the spike.
Five to 10 per cent of the active Covid cases this time so far needed hospitalisation but the situation is dynamic and may change rapidly, the Centre said on Monday and asked states to keep a watch on cases under home isolation and in hospitals.
The Centre on Friday opposed before the Delhi high court fully re-opening the Nizamuddin Markaz, where the Tablighi Jamaat congregation was held in March 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic and has remained shut since then, stating that a few people may be allowed to offer prayers on the upcoming religious occasions.
'And they are going to be milder because we are dealing with the vaccinated and are much richer in terms of the immune response in the population.'
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
One in eight adults who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 experience long term symptoms due to Covid-19, according to one of the most comprehensive studies on the viral disease to date published in The Lancet journal on Friday.
Macroeconomic management is usually a lot more comfortable with lower fiscal deficits. The sooner we get there, the better for the economy, says former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Shankar Acharya.
A second wave of Covid driven by the Delta variant engulfed the country in May-June bringing the health system to its knees and leaving people gasping for help.
Marisa Fotieo, a teacher from Michigan, said her throat began to hurt halfway through the trip on December 19 so she went to the bathroom to perform a rapid Covid test which confirmed she was infected, WABC-TV reported.
The pandemic will be over but Covid will be here to stay, the scientists said as Covid numbers begin to ebb in several parts of the world, including India.
If the pandemic persists, at least a portion of the blame should go to greed and nationalism that got in the way of the world acting together, notes Prosenjit Datta.
Swiss brokerage Credit Suisse expects the economy to continue to show positive surprises and record up to 9 per cent growth in the next fiscal. For the current financial year too, the brokerage anticipates growth to be higher than the consensus forecast of 8.4-9.5 per cent, and printing in at around 10.5 per cent. As a policy, Credit Suisse does not provide absolute growth numbers in its forecast.
According to the police, the doors of the markaz were opened at around 12.30 pm.
So which sectors are likely to do well in 2022? Should you focus on domestic economy-related sectors or export-oriented ones?
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