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360 evacuees return from UAE, Karnataka to run special trains: Covid-19 news today
Here is a preview of the important Covid-19 news from India in the last 24 hours.
Over 360 people returned to India from the United Arab Emirates on Thursday night on two planes as the government began the first leg of a massive repatriation programme involving 12 countries and 15,000 passengers. Karnataka, meanwhile, reversed its decision to stop special trains for migrants and said it intends to run daily services from Friday to May 15.
Covid-19 vaccine development sees unparalleled progress
US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign took off with him telling potential voters that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready by the end of 2020, even as European leaders pledged to raise US $8.3 billion to “kickstart an unprecedented global co-operation” between scientists, industry, governments and philanthropies for vaccine development. Read more.
Covid-19 update: In U-turn, Karnataka govt allows migrants to go back in special trains
Karnataka reversed on Thursday its decision to stop special trains for migrants after widespread anger and condemnation even as thousands of workers in other parts of the country said they opted to not go back to their native states because of slowly expanding employment opportunities. Read more.
Covid-19: What you need to know today
There are four animals that have become relevant in the context of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). This column is about them. Read more.
India kicks off op to fly back citizens, 363 evacuees from UAE land in Kerala
Thirty nine pregnant women were among the 363 people who returned to India from the United Arab Emirates on Thursday night via two Air India Express flights that formed the first leg of a massive repatriation programme involving 12 countries and 15,000 passengers. Read more.
Govt okays home, hotel isolation for milder Covid-19 patients
Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients with mild symptoms can stay in hotels and service apartments in case they don’t have space in their own residences to confine themselves in isolation, according to the Union health ministry’s revised guidelines on home quarantine for Covid patients. Read more.
Covid-19 peak likely to hit between May and August: AIIMS director
The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India is likely to see its peak between May and August, said Dr Randeep Guleria, director All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. Read more.
Madhya Pradesh brings in labour reforms amid Covid-19 crisis
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced that the process of issuing registrations and licenses for factories, shops, etc will now be completed in a day as part of a series of labour reforms to increase industrial activities, job opportunities as well as to woo fresh investments and safeguard interests of labourers. Read more.
Not every virus mutation is issue of concern, say experts
Has Sars-CoV2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19), mutated to become more deadly and contagious? Researchers around the world have identified dozens of mutations that they said has made the virus more lethal or transmissible, or both, which has fuelled uncertainty about the future, but experts say there is no significant mutation to suggest change in viral behaviour. Read more.
Llama antibodies hold clue to Covid-19 treatment
Winter, a four-year-old chocolate brown female llama in a Belgian farm, may hold clues to mitigating the Covid-19 crisis, according to scientists. Read more.
77 inmates, 26 officials test Covid-19 positive in Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison outbreak
A day after a 45-year-old undertrial tested positive for Covid-19, 77 more inmates and 26 officials at Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison were on Thursday found to have contracted the disease, an Indian Police Service officer said and added the number of infected people was likely to go up. Read more.
India set to lead post-pandemic baby boom: UN
India will be at the centre of a baby boom triggered by the Covid-18 outbreak, which has prompted lockdowns across the world and confined residents indoors, according to a report by the United Nations. “The pandemic could strain health care capacities for mothers and newborns,” the report by Unicef, released on Thursday, warned. Read more.
5,231 railway coaches to be used as Covid-19 isolation wards at 215 stations
The Centre has drafted a plan to deploy 5,231 railway coaches as isolation wards across 215 stations in 15 states “considering the possibility of an increase in cases of Covid-19.” Read more.
