Covid-19 Wrap-up: New concerns rise but a few things to rejoice too

A new week brings new worries, and joys too, as India continues its battle against the ravaging second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Novavax Inc on Monday reported late-stage data from its US-based clinical trial showing its vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective against Covid-19 across a variety of variants of the virus. The study involving nearly 30,000 volunteers in the United States and Mexico puts Novavax on track to file for emergency authorisation in the United States and elsewhere in the third quarter of 2021, the company said.

On the other side, the highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has mutated further to form the ‘Delta plus’ or ‘AY.1’ variant. However, scientists said there is no immediate cause for concern in India as its incidence in the country is still low.

Meanwhile, India recorded a single-day rise of 70,421 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest in 74 days, taking the country's infection tally to 2,95,10,410, while the count of active cases fell below 10 lakh after over two months, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

Karnataka on Monday logged 6,835 fresh cases and 120 deaths, taking the infection count to 27,71,969 and toll to 33,033, the health department said. The state has 1,72,141 active cases whereas the total discharges stood at 25,66,774 with the recovery of 15,409 people today.

Continuing its steady decline, Delhi reported 131 new Covid-19 cases, 355 recoveries and 16 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The West Bengal government on Monday announced several relaxations as it extended lockdown-like restrictions in the state till July 1. Shopping malls, restaurants are set to reopen, along with government offices with 25 per cent workforce. Gyms, spas, educational institutions will continue to remain closed.

The Taj Mahal and all other centrally-protected monuments, museums and sites, closed for around two months due to the pandemic, will be reopened on June 16, an Archaeological Survey of India order issued on Monday said. These include 3,693 monuments and 50 museums across India. An ASI official said visitors will be able to book entry tickets online.

Fully-vaccinated government employees in Assam have been called back to their duties after the state witnessed more than 50 per cent reduction in the number of daily cases. Offices, both government and private, were shut since April-end following a massive spike in Covid-19 cases. The positivity rate in the state had reached 9.13 per cent in April and the number of daily cases crossed 6,000.

The recruitment for the clinical trial of the country's first indigenously-developed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, among children in the age group of 6-12 years will begin at AIIMS Delhi from Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Centre is pulling all stops in a bid to vaccinate all Indians above 18 years by December-end. The latest plan set in motion is vaccine delivery, especially in remote areas, with the help of high-tech drones. The ICMR has invited bids from agencies to deliver medical supplies payload at select locations with difficult terrain.

Honeywell International Inc said on Monday it was partnering with the Indian government to ramp up oxygen production in the country. Honeywell, which makes aircraft parts for planes manufactured by Boeing Co and Canada's Bombardier Inc, said its researchers will collaborate with Indian scientists to test and validate suitability of adsorbents for oxygen production in India.