India's covid cases cross '6000' mark for the first time since September 2022

India recorded 6,050 covid cases, 13% higher than the 5,335 cases on April 6. Daily cases have crossed the 6,000 mark for the first time since September 16, 2022. The number of active cases stands at 28,303, a jump of nearly 2716 cases.

India records 3,016 new COVID-19 cases, highest in nearly 6 months

India saw a single-day rise of 3,016 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in nearly six months, while the active cases increased to 13,509, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. This comes after the nation recorded a single-day rise of 2,151 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

Covid-like virus found in native UK bats capable of infecting humans: Scientists

Bats in UK are harbouring a Covid-like virus capable of infecting humans. Scientists conducted virus screening tests using bat droppings from 16 bat species in the U.K. The viruses designated as RhGB07 and RfGB02 hail from the same family of pathogens as SARS-CoV-2.

Covid-19: XBB and its strains fast emerging as dominant sub-variant in India, Tamil Nadu tops

Omicron sub-variant XBB, which has led to a surge in Covid cases in Singapore, and its strains, especially XBB.3, are fast emerging as a dominant sub-variant in India. In India, nine states have reported XBB, and Tamil Nadu tops the list.

India detects highly infectious new Omicron sub-variant BF.7

Ahead of the festival season, India has detected a highly infectious Omicron variant BF.7, said to be behind the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in China, the US and other European countries. Officials said the first case of BF.7, described as ‘Omicron spawn,’ has been detected by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research centre. The variant, BA.5.2.1.7 or BF.7 for short, is a spinoff of the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which is currently the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant in the US and other countries.

91-year-old Kerala granny who beat Covid 19 in 2020 passes away

Mariamma Thomas, the nonagenarian, whose recovery from Covid-19 along with her husband Abraham Thomas in early 2020 was much celebrated, passed away in Ranni in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district on July 18. Marimma, 91, and her husband Abraham, 93, gained national attention after they became the oldest couple in India to have been infected with Covid-19 during the initial phase of the pandemic in India.

After 111 days, single-day Covid count in India crosses 12,000 mark

The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections was recorded at over 12,000 after 111 days, registering a 38.4 per cent jump in daily cases while the active cases have increased to 58,215, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Thursday.

Is India heading towards a fourth wave? Over 4000 cases reported on June 3

India on June 3 reported 4,041 new covid cases, this marks the highest single-day-jump since March 11. India has been witnessing a rise in infections over the last couple of days. #Maharashtra, which was also an early hotspot in previous virus waves in India, is again seeing a spike in Covid infections. #Mumbai, saw a 231% surge in hospitalizations in May compared with the preceding month.

47.4 lakh deaths in India linked to COVID-19, says WHO; Union gov 'strongly objects'

The WHO on May 5th said that covid 19 could have killed as many as 47.4 lakh people in India in 2020 and 2021, either directly due to infection or through its indirect impact. On May 5th, the world health body said that 14.9 million people were killed across the world by Covid-19. WHO added that about 8.3 lakh deaths are estimated to have happened in 2020 itself.

COVID-19: India's first case of Omicron XE variant confirmed by INSACOG

Amidst a spike in Covid cases, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) has finally confirmed the presence of Omicron's sub-variant XE, which is 10 percent more transmissible, in India.The confirmation from INSACOG came after XE - a recombinant variant of BA.1 and BA.2 sub lineages of Omicron - was reported from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala. The Union health ministry has yet to comment on the variant.

India's Covid positivity rate past 1 per cent again after two months

India's Covid case positivity rate went past 1% again after over 2 months. India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,157 infections and 26 fatalities. Active cases rose by 408 in a 24-hour span to reach 19,500. The death toll has climbed to 5,23,869 with the 26 new fatalities being reported. India has been seeing fresh surge in Covid cases since last 2 weeks.

Covid-19: Delhi records 632 new cases; centre writes to 5 states over rising cases

COVID-19 cases in Delhi on April 20th rose 26% to 632 since April 19th. After a steady fall in Covid cases, Delhi has seen a surge in new cases over the last one week. According to the Delhi Health Department's data, the positivity rate registered a nearly three-fold rise between April 11 and 18. On April 11, the positivity rate stood at 2.70%, which jumped to 7.72% on April 18.

Coordinated approach needed to tackle future zoonotic diseases: Epidemiologist Dr Giridhara Babu

R Giridhara R Babu, a renowned epidemiologist and Covid Technical Advisory Committee member, speaks to The New Sunday Express about the Covid-19 pandemic teaching us how the complex links between human, animal and environmental health require coordinated multidisciplinary and multipronged collaboration to address threats from zoonotic diseases. “The global public health community needs to act decisively now. ‘One Health’ is the need of the hour,” he said.

After two years, Centre asks states to end all Covid curbs from March 31, but masks to stay

As Covid-19 cases show a steady decline in the country, the Centre asked states and Union territories to end all Covid containment measures from March 31. The decision to end all the Covid-related curbs came two years after the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005, was invoked following the pandemic outbreak.

Listen | India's first Covid patient shares her story as nation completes 2 pandemic years

Exactly two years back today, on January 30, 2020, a third-year medical student from Wuhan university tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the country's first COVID-19 patient, days after she had returned home following semester holidays. This is her story, in an exclusive interview with The New Indian Express.

Omicron in community transmission stage in India, new sub-variant found

"Omicron is now in community transmission in India and has become dominant in multiple metros, where new cases have been rising exponentially. BA.2 lineage is in a substantial fraction in India and S gene dropout based screening is thus likely to give high false negatives," the INSACOG bulletin said.

Two Omicron cases detected in Karnataka, says Health Ministry

Two people from Karnataka tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Union health ministry informed on December 2nd. Both the cases have been reported in Karnataka with the patients being two men aged 66 and 46The Health Ministry also added that all people who came in contact with the two patients have been traced and are being tested.

Kerala Schools reopen after a 20-month gap as COVID cases continue to decrease

Third wave warning? Two in Bengaluru found with new AY.4.2 Covid variant

Covid-19 R value for big cities shows rising trend again as festive season kicks in

Amid concerns that Covid-19 situation in India may flare up again due to increased mixing of people, crowds and lack of Covid appropriate behaviour during the festive season, the R factor in some cities in India has already started showing an increasing trend.  R factor refers to the effective reproduction rate which denotes the number of people getting infected by one infected person. If the value of the R factor is above 1, it means that one infected person can spread the infection to more than one person which suggests that the infection is spreading.