Category: COVID-19

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-Top News COVID-19

Covid cases continue to soar

The country recorded the highest one-day fresh infections in the last nearly six months…reports Asian Lite News

India continued to report over 3,000 COVID cases for the second day in a row with 3,095 new infections in the last 24 hours, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday. The country recorded the highest one-day fresh infections in the last nearly six months.

The country had reported 3,016 cases on Thursday with a case positivity rate of 2.73 per cent which declined to 2.61 per cent today. The weekly positivity rate jumped to 1.91 per cent today from 1.71 per cent yesterday. According to the Ministry, the active caseload in the country increased from 13,509 yesterday to 15,208 today which is 0.03 of the total number of cases.

As many as 1,390 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 4,41,69,711.

The recovery rate in the country currently is 98.78 per cent.

The Ministry informed that 220.65 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive, of which 95.20 crore are second doses and 22.86 crore are precaution doses. 6,553 COVID vaccine doses have been administered in last 24 hours, the Ministry said.

As far as the testing in the country is concerned amid the rising COVID cases, 1,18,694 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued revised guidelines for Covid-19 in the wake of the surge of cases in the past week across the country.

“Antibiotics should not be used unless there is clinical suspicion of bacterial infection. The possibility of coinfection of COVID-19 with other endemic infections must be considered. Systemic corticosteroids are not indicated in mild disease,” revised guidelines said.

As per the revised Covid-19 guidelines, maintain “Physical distancing, indoor mask use, hand hygiene, Symptomatic management (hydration, antipyretics, antitussive) Monitor temperature and oxygen saturation (by applying a SpO probe to fingers) Stay in contact with the treating physician.

“Seek immediate medical attention if difficulty breathing, High-grade fever/ severe cough, particularly if lasting for more than 5 days. A low threshold is to be kept for those with any of the high-risk features,” guidelines discussed and prepared in January said.

Additionally, in moderate or severe diseases at high risk of progression, the guidelines recommend, “Consider Remdesivir for up to 5 days (200 mg IV on day 1 followed by 100 mg IV OD for the next 4 days)”. (ANI)

Delhi infection rate nears 13%

Delhi recorded 295 fresh cases of Covid-19 infection in the last 24 hours with a positivity rate of 12.48 per cent, according to a daily health bulletin released by the government on Thursday.

The national capital currently has 932 active cases of Covid-19, it said. A total of 4,07,87,796 Covid tests have been conducted so far.

It stated further that a total of 163 Covid patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 19,82,029.

Earlier on Thursday, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj called an emergency meeting after 300 fresh Covid-19 cases were recorded in the Capital on Wednesday.

(Photo Qamar Sibtain IANS)

“Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj will hold a meeting with the officers and specialist doctors associated with the health department this afternoon,” officials said.

The Special Secretary, Health Department, Director of General Health Services, Nodal Officer for Oxygen and Testing and Medical Directors of several hospitals including Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) will be present in the meeting.

On Wednesday, the national capital recorded 300 fresh Covid-19 cases and two deaths, marking a sharp uptick in infections over the last 24 hours.

ALSO READ-US Senate votes to end national Covid-19 emergency

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

Covid infected over 15 million kids in US

People wearing face masks wait at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/IANS)

Over 13,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported in the week ending March 23…reports Asian Lite News

More than 15.5 million children in the US are reported to have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, according to a new report.

The report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association said that over 66,000 of these cases have been added in the past 4 weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over 13,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported in the week ending March 23, it added.

Over the past six months, weekly reported child cases in the US have plateaued at an average of about 30,000 cases, according to the report.

Reported cases are likely a “substantial undercount” of Covid-19 cases among children, it noted.

There is a need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the report.

It is important to recognize there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children’s health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impacts on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth, said the AAP.

With the highest number of cases and fatalities, the US remains the worst-hit country by the Covid pandemic.

As of Wednesday morning, the country’s caseload and death toll stood at 106,120,651 and 1,153,972, respectively.

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

WH Covid response team to be disbanded in May

Indian-American physician Ashish Jha.(photo: twitter.com/ashishkjha46)

The US remains the worst-hit country in the world with the highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths….reports Asian Lite News

The White House will disband its Covid-19 response team led by Indian-American physician Ashish Jha, as the public health emergency over the pandemic is set to expire on May 11, officials said.

Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the team was responsible for coordinating the nationwide rollout and distribution of vaccines, treatments and medical supplies, reports CNN.

“As a result of this administration’s historic response to Covid-19, we as a nation are in a safer, better place than we were three years ago.

“Covid no longer disrupts our lives because of investments and our efforts to mitigate its worst impacts,” CNN quoted a senior administration official as saying in a statement.

The official however, noted that Covid is not over and fighting it remains a priority for the administration.

“Transitioning out of the emergency phase is the natural evolution of the Covid response.”

The US remains the worst-hit country in the world with the highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths.

As of Thursday, it has registered a total of 106,037,022 cases since the pandemic first erupted in early 2020, while the death toll stood at 1,152,525.

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

Biden signs Bill to declassify info on Covid-19 origins

President Joe Biden.(photo:Instagram)

Biden Admin reiterated that they will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID-19’s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology….reports Asian Lite News

President Joe Biden on Monday signed a Bill, the “COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023”, that requires the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information related to the origins of COVID.

The US President in a statement on Monday said: “My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID-19’s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology; will declassify & share as much of that information as possible.” “Today, I am pleased to sign into law S. 619, the “COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023.” I share the Congress’s goal of releasing as much information as possible about the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In 2021, I directed the Intelligence Community to use every tool at its disposal to investigate the origin of COVID-19, and that work is ongoing,” Biden said in a statement released by The White House.

“We need to get to the bottom of COVID-19’s origins to help ensure we can better prevent future pandemics. My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID-19’s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In implementing this legislation, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible, consistent with my constitutional authority to protect against the disclosure of information that would harm national security,” the US President further said according to The White House release.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has rebuked Chinese officials for withholding scientific research that may reveal the origin of coronavirus, The New York Times reported.

The WHO, on Friday (Local time) also asked the Chinese official about the reasons behind not revealing the data three years ago and why, after it was published online in January, it could not be found now.

Before the data got vanished into the internet space, an international team of virus experts downloaded and began analysing the research. The team revealed that the data supports the idea that the pandemic could have begun from the illegally traded raccoon dogs, which infected the humans at China’s Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

But the team couldn’t reach the final result as the gene sequences were removed from a scientific database once the experts offered to collaborate on the analysis with their Chinese counterparts, according to The New York Times.

“These data could have — and should have — been shared three years ago,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, said. The missing evidence now “needs to be shared with the international community immediately,” he said. (ANI)

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

US House votes to declassify info on Covid-19 origin

Clamour for an in-depth investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic grows stronger amid WHA meet.(photo:indianarrative)

The move is aimed at demystifying several conspiracy theories surrounding the alleged deliberate leak of the genetically engineered SARC Cov 2 virus, a weaponised flu virus, to test its efficacy…writes T.N. Ashok

In an unprecedented move, the US Congress, dominated by the Republican Party, has passed a bill unanimously asking the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information on the origins of Covid 19 and sent the measure to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval.

The move is aimed at demystifying several conspiracy theories surrounding the alleged deliberate leak of the genetically engineered SARC Cov 2 virus, a weaponised flu virus, to test its efficacy. The alleged leak or accidental release of the virus from Wuhan lab of Hubei province of China devastated the world killing 5 million people around the globe and infecting 50 million people worldwide, the maximum being in the US and India, just as the Spanish Flu did in 1928 to 1930.

Conspiracy theories abound as a mysterious woman technician from the lab became a whistleblower claiming the virus was leaked from the lab. However, after the whistle-blower disappeared, and nothing was heard of her, the WHO officially stated that the virus had accidentally leaked from the lab.

Subsequently, investigations by the US media revealed that the Wuhan lab was funded for genetic engineering experiments by the US government. This was publicly acknowledged by the special health advisor to the President and the NIAID Director, Dr Anthony Fauci, who has since laid down office.

Fauci, the long time chief of the Laboratory of Immuno-regulation and making many contributions to basic and clinical research on the pathogenesis and treatment of immune-mediated and infectious diseases, was in the firing line as the long-time director of NIAID for not containing Covid in the US.

The House of Representatives, which was retaken by the Republicans from the Democrats in November last year with a wafer thin majority, passed a bill to require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information on Covid’s origins.

The bill to declassify information about the virus’ origins and any information linking it to a Chinese lab was passed by the House unanimously, 419-0, with 16 members not voting. The Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent last week, media reports said.

Asked on Friday whether he would sign the legislation into law, Biden told reporters: “I haven’t made that decision yet.”

The bill, titled the Covid-19 Origin Act of 2023, comes after it was revealed that the US Energy Department had concluded, but with a low amount of confidence, that the pandemic likely originated from a laboratory leak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, according to a classified report delivered to key lawmakers on the House and the Senate Intelligence committees, two sources previously confirmed to NBC News.



The FBI believes Covid originated from the Chinese lab leak, its Director Christopher Wray said.

Wray, in a recent interview with Fox News, said that the “FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan”. He complained that the Chinese government had been doing “it’s best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, and the work that our US government and close foreign partners are doing, and that’s unfortunate for everybody”.

The bill was introduced last month by Republican Senators Josh Hawley and Mike Braun.

“For nearly three years, anyone asking whether Covid-19 originated as a lab leak outbreak was silenced and branded as a conspiracy theorist,” Hawley said in a statement when filing the measure. “Now these prudent sceptics stand vindicated. The American people deserve to know the truth.”

The Chinese government has stoutly denied the claims maintaining its “openness and transparency” on the issue. “Based on the poor track record of the US intelligence agencies in forgery and deception, the conclusions they draw have no credibility whatsoever,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said earlier this month.

President Biden has directed the intelligence community to look further into pandemics origins in 2021 so as to arrive at a “definitive conclusion” on its source after agencies were conflicted on whether the virus came from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident.

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Business COVID-19 Economy

Uncertainties in post Covid economic recovery 

economy.

Domestically, consumption momentum is clearly fading, and capex could follow suit amid slowing prices, rising cost of capital and slowing consumption and exports, it added…reports Sanjeev Sharma

Overall, post-Covid economic recovery may be strong in pockets, but remains weak on the aggregate, Nuvama Institutional Equities said in a report.

On a 5 year CAGR trend basis, real GDP is growing at 4 per cent, which is sluggish. The weakness is pronounced in manufacturing (2.7 per cent), whereas services (5 per cent) seems to be doing relatively well. Nominal GDP growth stands at 11 per cent on a trend basis, (similar to pre-Covid trend), aided by higher prices.

On a trend basis (5YCAGR), real GDP is growing at just 4.1 per cent despite upward revisions in FY21 and FY22. Seen differently, real GDP is running 9-10 per cent below the pre-covid trend line, which is notable given pent-up demand is arguably behind, Nuvama Institutional Equities said in a note.

“But what is more concerning is that even before the economy could regain the pre-Covid trend line; a slowdown may be setting in. Manufactured exports are already in contraction while services exports could slow down next amid a broadening global downturn,” the report said.

Domestically, consumption momentum is clearly fading, and capex could follow suit amid slowing prices, rising cost of capital and slowing consumption and exports, it added.

Near term uncertainties are rising due to global geopolitical and economic issues, El Nino and negative noise levels ahead of 2024 General elections, Prabhudas Lilladher said in a report.

High frequency indicators like GST collection, peak power demand, recovery in air Travel, PV, CV, housing, capital goods and improving capacity utilisation are positive. Rural demand has failed to pick up due to high inflation but strong rabi crop, declining inflation, and likely increase in rural spending ahead of 2024 elections will likely revive demand although EL Nino remains a key risk, it added.

“El Nino is knocking at the doors as temperatures around the country are soaring high and there are significant variations across the globe. We note that some regions in India are recording temperatures 3-5 degrees higher than normal. Both Skymet and IMD have warned of higher than expected heat in the summer months from April to June,” the report said.

Also, winter monsoons were weak this year (deficit of 37 per cent in Nov’22, 14 per cent in Dec’22 and 13 per cent in Jan’23) with major northern states like Punjab, western UP and MP receiving higher rainfall deficit. EL Nino along with weaker monsoons is expected to have multi pronged adverse impact on the Indian agriculture and economy.

“Firstly, it poses a high threat to the standing Rabi crop, especially wheat a higher temperatures can lower output. Secondly, El Nino usually leads to weaker monsoons and hence a threat of poor Kharif crop. Poor Rabi and Kharif crop output can push food inflation further up and delay rural demand recovery. Lastly, higher temperatures will lead to higher power demand which could add to higher coal imports and inflation woes for consumers,” the report said.

According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services, an analysis of 12 rural consumption indicators suggests that rural spending rose 5.3 per cent YoY in 9MFY23 v/s 0.6 per cent YoY growth in 9MFY22.

However, consumption grew at a three-quarter low of 4.6 per cent YoY in 3QFY23 v/s 6.5 per cent/5.6 per cent YoY rise in 1Q/2QFY23. The slowdown was primarily led by: four-quarter low growth in real agriculture GVA, continued fall in non-agricultural wages, sharp slowdown (nine-quarter low growth) in two-wheeler sales, continued decline in farmers’ terms of trade (negative for eight quarters now), drop in real farm exports (first decline in 10 quarters), and three-quarter low growth in real farm credit in 3QFY23.

Overall, consumption demand has started its southward journey. Both rural and urban consumption grew at a three-quarter low in 3QFY23.

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COVID-19 Health India News

Bill Gates appreciates India’s Covid-19 management

Bill Gates appreciated India’s COVID Management, vaccination drive and Digital Health initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission…reports Asian Lite News

Microsoft co-founder and Philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday met Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya in the national capital and appreciated India’s COVID-19 management.

During his meeting, Bill Gates appreciated India’s COVID Management, vaccination drive and Digital Health initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. He also visited the dedicated War Room named National Public Health Observatory which was shaped during Covid times.

India’s G20 health priorities, PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and eSanjeevani were also discussed between Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and the Microsoft founder.

“Wonderful meeting with @BillGates. He appreciated India’s COVID-19 Management, Vaccination Drive & Digital Health initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. We discussed India’s G20 health priorities, PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and eSanjeevani,” Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Wednesday.

Notably, one of India’s three health priorities at the G-20 summit is hosting is to ensure access to such medical countermeasures for all in the event of another pandemic.

The Health Minister showed him the dedicated War Room named National Public Health Observatory which was shaped during Covid times. It tracked COVID cases & Vaccination speedily & efficiently and currently each health program and initiative uses Artificial Intelligence (AI).

On Tuesday, Bill Gates also met former Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and had a discussion with him about his philanthropic work specially related to children’s healthcare.

Besides Sachin, Gates also met Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das and held discussions on wide-ranging matters.”Mr. @BillGates visited RBI Mumbai today and held wide-ranging discussions with Governor @DasShaktikanta,” RBI tweeted.

This is Gates’ first visit to India after the COVID-19 pandemic. On February 23, he expressed his happiness in coming to India.

“India gives me hope for the future. I’m excited to visit next week and see the work being done by innovators and entrepreneurs to tackle big challenges like climate change, health, and hunger,” he tweeted. (ANI)

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Business COVID-19 STARTUPS News

Tough times ahead for Indian startups

Startup funding slows but strong core policies will help tide over uncertainties, say experts(IN)

The market disruption by the Covid-19 pandemic created phases of growth and slowdowns for startups…reports Asian Lite News

Consumer demand is expected to stay low over the coming quarters, as inflation continues to rise, creating a further slowdown phase for the startups in the country, a new report has said.

There is an ongoing risk of further escalation in the war on Ukraine and the current wheat crop being impacted by hot weather conditions, according to market research firm Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Consumer perception of the general economic condition continues to be pessimistic as per the Reserve Bank of India’s Consumer Confidence Survey of January 2023, where more than 50 per cent of consumers reported it to have worsened.

This comes at a difficult time for startups. They currently have limited ability to drive growth through discounts and other levers, which worked well during an easier funding environment.

“Therefore, startups must focus on efficient unit economics and improving profitability by sticking to their core offerings,” the report said.

One strategy that has worked for FMCG players in the face of shrinkflation has been the push towards smaller stock-keeping units (SKUs).

“Bharat-focused startups, too, need to look at revamping their SKU strategy to fit the tighter wallets of the mass-market consumers. The second strategy is to double down on the premium categories, which have lower price elasticity and have performed well against market pressures across sectors,” the findings showed.

The market disruption by the Covid-19 pandemic created phases of growth and slowdowns for startups.

As a result, most businesses experienced a net growth that spanned two pandemic waves.

However, in 2022, global inflationary pressures severely impacted consumer demand. The revenue increase was driven by higher prices, as volumes remained low across the urban and rural sectors.

“With the macroenvironment challenges expected to continue, consumer demand is likely to remain subdued for the foreseeable future,” the report said.

“We expect consumer demand over the near future to continue staying subdued, with high inflation, unemployment in the urban organised sector and falling real wages in the rural areas,” it added.

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Categories
-Top News COVID-19 USA

Energy Dept concludes lab leak caused Covid-19 pandemic

Pedestrians pass a sign advertising a COVID-19 testing site in New York, the United States, on May 12, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua/IANS)

The Energy Department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory…reports Asian Lite News

New intelligence has prompted the Energy Department to conclude that an accidental laboratory leak in China most likely caused the novel coronavirus pandemic, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The shift by the Energy Department, which previously was undecided on how the virus emerged, is noted in an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office. The conclusion was a change from the department’s earlier position that it was undecided on how the virus emerged, reported WSJ.

The update, which is less than five pages, wasn’t requested by the Congress. But lawmakers, particularly House and Senate Republicans, are pursuing their own investigations into the origins of the pandemic and are pressing the Biden administration and the intelligence community for more information.

The Energy Department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory, reported WSJ.

The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of US national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research.

Energy Department’s insights come from its network of national laboratories, some of which conduct biological research, rather than more traditional forms of intelligence like spy networks or communications intercepts.

The FBI previously came to the conclusion that the pandemic was likely the result of a lab leak in 2021 with “moderate confidence” and still holds this view.

US officials added that while the Energy Department and the FBI each say an unintended lab leak is the most likely cause of the pandemic, they arrived at those conclusions for different reasons.

The updated document underscores how intelligence officials are still putting together the pieces on how Covid-19 emerged. More than one million Americans have died in the pandemic that began more than three years ago, reported WSJ.

However, the conclusion was made with “low confidence,” and came as America’s intelligence agencies remained divided over the origins of the coronavirus, reported WSJ.

Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still believe that the pandemic was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided.

The Central Intelligence Agency and another agency that officials wouldn’t name remain undecided between the lab-leak and natural-transmission theories, the people who have read the classified report said.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan declined to confirm or deny the Journal’s reporting in an appearance Sunday on CNN. He said President Biden had repeatedly directed every part of the intelligence community to invest in trying to discern as much as possible about the origins of the pandemic.

“President Biden specifically requested that the national labs, which are part of the Energy Department, be brought into this assessment because he wants to put every tool at use to be able to figure out what happened here,” Sullivan said.

The Covid-19 virus first circulated in Wuhan, China, no later than November 2019, according to the US 2021 intelligence report. The pandemic’s origin has been the subject of vigorous debate among academics, intelligence experts and lawmakers.

The emergence of the pandemic heightened tensions between the US and China, which US officials alleged was withholding information about the outbreak. It also led to a spirited and at times partisan debate in the US about its origin.  (ANI)

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Categories
-Top News COVID-19 USA

Covid marks sixth leading cause of death in US in Jan

Pedestrians pass a sign advertising a COVID-19 testing site in New York, the United States, on May 12, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua/IANS)

XBB.1.5 is growing in proportion in all regions nationwide, according to the CDC. BQ.1.1 remains the second most prevalent strain at 9.4 per cent…reports Asian Lite News

The highly transmissible Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 now accounts for 85 per cent of all Covid-19 cases reported in the US this week, according to the latest estimates of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The prevalence of XBB.1.5 kept increasing since late last year — up from 79.2 per cent last week and 71.9 per cent two weeks prior, Xinhua news agency reported citing the estimates as saying.

XBB.1.5 is growing in proportion in all regions nationwide, according to the CDC. BQ.1.1 remains the second most prevalent strain at 9.4 per cent.

The CDC first started tracking XBB.1.5 in November last year, when it accounted for less than 1 per cent of cases nationwide.

Since then, the strain is spreading quickly in the US. Early study suggests XBB.1.5 has a couple of concerning mutations that suggest it is even more contagious than other strains, possibly the most transmissible one so far.

While XBB.1.5 is spreading easier, scientists said it does not seem to cause more severe disease. The US still remains the worst-ht country in the world with the highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths.

As of Saturday morning, the country’s overall number of cases and fatalities stood at 105,169,945 and 1,144,441, respectively.

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