NEW DELHI: India reported a single-day rise of 279 new Covid-19 cases, which pushed its tally of the infection to 4,46,72,347, while the count of active cases has declined to 4,855, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,30,620 with five fatalities being recorded, including two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The three fresh fatalities reported were from Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra. Active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry. A decrease of 127 cases has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours, the data showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,41,36,872, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent, it stated. According to the ministry's website, 219.92 crore doses of vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. India's COVID-19 infection tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020. The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore cases on May 4, 2021, three crore on June 23, 2021, and four crore on January 25 this year.
MUMBAI: More than 32 months after the Covid pandemic began, the state on Monday registered the lowest single-day tally with detection of only 23 cases. Mumbai, too, registered its lowest tally in as many months, with six detections. The last time the single-day tally in Maharashtra was lower than Monday's tally was on March 13, 2020, when 17 cases were detected. In Mumbai, eight cases were detected on November 19. A state official admitted that the tally is low only because less than 4,000 tests were conducted on Sunday — a far cry from up to two lakh conducted in a day during the height of the pandemic two years back. In Mumbai, 1,226 tests were conducted. There were no fresh hospitalisations in the city in the Sunday-Monday period, with a total of 22 patients in hospitals at the moment.
NEW DELHI: India on Sunday reported 343 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 4.46 crore, the Union health ministry data stated. With 4 new deaths, the country's death toll has climbed to 5.3 lakh (5,30,612). Out of the 4 fresh fatalities, three have been reconciled by Kerala, while one was reported from Maharashtra in the last 24 hours. Furthermore, the number of active cases have come down to 5,263, the health ministry data updated at 8 am said. The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections. A decrease of 132 cases was recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Meanwhile, the national Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.8 per cent, according to the ministry's website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 44.1 lakh (4,41,35,687) and the case fatality rate stood at 1.19 per cent. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 last year, three crore on June 23 and four crore on January 25 this year. (With inputs from agencies)
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Saturday reported 98 Covid-19 cases and one death, which took the state's tally to 81,35,620 and the toll to 1,48,406, a health official said. The state had seen 72 cases and one death on Friday, so the addition to the tally was a sizable rise, he pointed out. Mumbai and Pune circles led with 32 new cases each, followed by 19 in Akola, five in Nagpur, three each in Kolhapur and Aurangabad, and two each in Nashik and Latur circles, he said. The recovery count increased by 124 to touch 79,86,70, leaving the state with an active caseload of 504, he said. Pune accounted for 187 active cases, followed by 94 in Mumbai and 65 in Thane, he added. As per health department data, the recovery rate is 98.17 per cent and the fatality rate stands at 1.82 per cent. So far, 8,56,08,988 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the state, including 12,871 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 8135620; fresh cases 98; death toll 148406; recoveries 79,86,710; active cases 504; total tests 8,56,08,988.
PUNE: Maharashtra currently has the lowest active Covid cases since April 2020, the time the World Health Organisation (WHO) had announced the pandemic. WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Around April 4, 2020, the active Covid cases in Maharashtra had risen to 635. State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate told TOI, "This number has now fallen to 531, after as long as two-and-a-half years. This is now officially the lowest active cases figure - almost akin to the caseload seen before the start of the first wave. It effectively means that the latest active caseload is the lowest compared to all the lowest points during the previous three major waves in the state." Awate said there has been no impact of the new sub-variants from the Omicron family on the number of cases in Maharashtra or hospitalisations. "While XBB has taken over BA.2.75, these sub-variants are from this same Omicron lineage. Thus, there has been no effect on virus transmission or severity."
MUMBAI: One of the dominant strains of Omicron in the US, BQ.1.1, has been detected in a 29-year-old Pune resident who recently returned from Ireland. The state's public health department confirmed it to be one of the first cases but said the individual recovered at home and had a mild illness. Despite new variants, fresh detections in Maharashtra dropped to a seven-month low on Monday, with just 67 cases found on Monday. Overall, Covid cases and deaths have been declining steadily in the state and city. As per state data, new infections detected on the week ending November 13 have dropped by 37% compared to the previous week. Besides fewer cases being found increasingly, deaths too have dropped to a weekly average of seven. Mumbai reported just 15 cases on Monday, one of the lowest daily tallies since April 2020. Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, said the weekly case fatality rate of the state has dropped below 1 (0.67) and has been consistent. "There were seven deaths due to Covid-19 in the last week, and this has been unchanged in the last four weeks," he said. A steady decrease is also seen in the number of hospitalizations and those requiring ICU care. Of the cumulative new cases found last week, 2% needed ICU. The state's weekly positivity too has reduced from 1.57% to 1.15%. In terms of emerging variants, state officials said the severity of Covid-19 and the transmission speed had not seen any major shift. XBB, a hybrid of two Omicron BA.2 lineages, BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75, is contributing to cases in the state. A total of 116 patients of the XBB variant have been found in Maharashtra, including 72 from Mumbai, 29 from Pune, eight from Thane, among others. In the US, Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 overtook BA.5 last week to account for almost 44% of all new infections.
NEW DELHI: India reported a single-day rise of 547 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest since April 8, 2020, taking the tally of the infection in the country to 4,46,66,924, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The count of active cases has fallen below 10,000 for the first time since April 2020, while the death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,30,532 with one fatality being reported from Maharashtra, the data updated at 8 am showed. A total of 540 Covid-19 cases were reported on April 8, 2020. The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.79 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The count of active Covid-19 cases now stands at 9,468. A decrease of 2,839 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, the data showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,41,26,924, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent, it added. According to the ministry's website, 219.80 crore doses of vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive. India's Covid-19 infection tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore Covid-19 cases on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Sunday reported 144 Covid-19 cases, which took the state's infection count to 81,34,440, while the death toll rose by one to touch 1,48,401, a health official said. The lone death took place in Buldhana district. Mumbai circle led with 55 new cases, followed by 67 in Pune circle, six in Akola circle, five each in Nagpur and Nashik circle, three in Kolhapur, two in Latur, one in Aurangabad circle, he said. The recovery count increased by 199 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,85,028, leaving the state with an active caseload of 1,011, the official said. So far, 8,54,41,480 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 32,362 in the last 24 hours, as per state health department data. It also showed the recovery rate was 98.16 per cent and the fatality rate stood at 1.82 per cent. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 81,34,440; fresh cases 144; death toll 1,48,401; recoveries 79,85,028; active cases 1,011; total tests 8,54,41,480.
PUNE: Just days after the detection of three cases of Omicron’s BQ. 1 — one each from Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu — scientists in India have found two Covid samples with BQ. 1. 1, another offshoot of BA. 5. The two samples are from Pune and New Delhi. BQ. 1 and BQ. 1. 1, now dominant in the United States, recently raised fears of a winter surge there. Last week, US media reports said the pair had already raced past BA. 5 and currently account for an estimated 44% of all new infections nationwide. However, experts in India told TOI on Saturday the two subvariants have not had any impact on caseloads so far. A top INSACOG official said: “BQ. 1 and BQ. 1. 1 have been found in only five genome samples so far. Genome sequencing data circulated by INSACOG is 15 days old. So going by this, one can assume the pair would’ve by now caused Covid surges in India, if they were spreading. But we are yet to see a spike. So, as of now, these subvariants don’t seem to hold much significance. But we are still keeping watch. ” The official added that India continues to see a decline in Covid cases, now down to 800-900 per day. Maharashtra’s coordinator for genome sequencing, Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, said: “One case from Pune was identified as a BQ. 1. 1 infection recently, which we reported to INSACOG. Overall, two cases of these offshoots of BA. 5 — one case with BQ. 1 and another with BQ. 1. 1 — have been detected. But despite the discovery, cases in Maharashtra continue to drop. ” Dr Karyakarte added: "Pune, Maharashtra and India present a curious case as BA. 4 and BA. 5 never ended up growing here, to the extent they did in the United States. We feel Omicron subvariant BA. 2 and its sub-lineages like BA. 2. 38/74/75/76 and now the recombinant XBB may be exerting pressure on BA. 5 descendants BQ. 1 and BQ. 1. 1, preventing their growth in India. BA. 5 could not make an impact in India so it’s likely something similar could come about in case of BQ. 1 and BQ. 1. 1. But we are doing more in-depth studies to gauge the severity of cases. ” Another INSACOG official said newer SARS-CoV-2 will continue to show up every now and then. “There should not be any worry until there is a variant/subvariant capable of causing a significant increase in Covid severity, hospitalisations and deaths. Even in US regions with high share of BQ. 1 and BQ. 1. 1 infections, hospitalisations have been stable. There was so much hue and cry when XBB was found in India but, so far, we have had only 400-odd cases of XBB and its subline ages. There is no alarm as of now. ” XBB is a hybrid of two omicron BA. 2 lineages. Such a variant is created when two different sub-variants combine and exchange parts of their genetic material. XBB in late October had caused a small Covid spike in Singapore, but caseloads there have since dropped. There was also a small rise in hospitalisations, but it was not as sharp as Singapore’s previous Covid waves. Importantly, its health ministry has estimated that those infected by XBB have a 30% lower risk of hospitalisation when compared with BA. 5. XBB is not the first hybrid variant either. There was XE earlier this year. BQ. 1’s offspring BQ. 1. 1 is considered to be the most immune-evasive lineage to date. The L452R mutation both BQ. 1 and BQ. 1. 1 share with Delta has in some preliminary studies in mice shown increased fusogenicity (viruscell fusion) that is associated with increased pathogenicity and severity. Scientists have cited this data to warn people about a possible winter surge of Covid in some regions of the world. In the United States, public health experts have now called for some level of precautions, including masking and distancing.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 169 fresh coronavirus cases, but no new death linked to the infection, while 265 patients recovered in the state, the health department said. With this, the state's overall Covid-19 tally rose to 81,33,981, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,398, the department said in a bulletin. On Wednesday, the state had registered 130 cases and two fatalities related to respiratory illness. Out of the new cases, Mumbai accounted for 42 and Pune 22, among other districts. The coronavirus recovery rate in the state stood at 98.16 per cent, while the case fatality rate was 1.82 per cent. The bulletin said 265 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,84,359 and leaving the state with 1,224 active cases. It said 13,098 new coronavirus tests were conducted in the state, raising their total count to 8,53,93,826.
NEW DELHI: India logged 1,016 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 4,46,63,968, while the active cases dipped to 13,187, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 5,30,514 with three new fatalities -- two in Maharashtra and one in Rajasthan --being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate increased to 98.78 per cent, according to the ministry website. A decrease of 372 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,20,267, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 219.76 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.
MUMBAI: Can giloy, the immune-enhancing herb whose popularity skyrocketed amid the Covid pandemic cause liver failure? Last year when Mumbai researchers published their findings about six liver failure cases linked to consumption of giloy (Tinospora cordifolia), they were criticised by followers of traditional Indian medicine. They suggested the patients may have taken preparations made from a similar-looking medicinal plant Tinospora crispa known to induce liver problems. It resulted in the department of Ayush issuing a clarification of the former’s efficacy on October 5, 2021. The same researchers have now used botany, biochemistry and genome sequencing to conclusively prove the six patients had indeed taken giloy. “But the reason they suffered liver toxicity is they harboured an auto-immune condition that most likely got expressed by giloy’s immuneenhancing ability,”' said Dr Aabha Nagral, the main researcher from Jaslok Hospital who treated the six patients. The latest research, published in the November issue of ‘Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology’, has for the first time in medical history published an algorithm to differentiate between the two medicinal herbs and provide norms to analysing any unknown herb producing injury. Giloy is a super herb widely used in Ayurveda. “It is called amrut as it gives life. Giloy is so regenerative that even if a small part of the plant falls to ground, it creates a new plant,” said Dr Govind Khati, former dean of Podar Ayurveda Hospital and department of Ayush director. He said it “could cause no harm”. The researchers found giloy raises immune markers in blood, but brought autoimmune hepatitis to the fore in a subset of patients (with hypothyroidism and diabetes). The previous study got much response from the Ayush community defending giloy and from liver specialists who reported patients undergoing a liver transplant after giloy use. “Modern drugs too have side-effects, including liver toxicity, but they carry warnings. A similar process needs to be followed for herbal drugs as public perception of all herbs as safe is not accurate,” said Dr Nagral. During Covid, the six patients who were studied used giloy to boost immunity. Four used the plant to get an extract, while others used commercially available products. The patient who died had used the readymade product. For the second study, the team collected the four plant samples and two commercial preparations consumed by their patients. It had a tough time finding Tinospora crisp for use as the “control sample” against which samples could be evaluated. “We found that Tinospora crispa doesn’t grow in Maharashtra and we initially tried to get it from Assam,” said Dr Nagral. They later found a local researcher cultivating the plant for her own study. “We waited for six months for the plant to grow,” said the doctor. “Based on morphological, microscopic, phytochemical, and DNA studies, the four plant part samples were identified as Tinospora cordifolia or giloy. The two commercial preparations could not be analysed as other ingredients interfered with analysis,” said the study.
MUMBAI: Can giloy, the immune-enhancing herb whose popularity skyrocketed amid the Covid-19 pandemic cause liver failure? Last year when Mumbai researchers published their findings about six liver failure cases linked to consumption of giloy (Tinospora cordifolia), they were criticised by followers of traditional Indian medicine. They suggested the patients may have taken preparations made from a similar-looking medicinal plant Tinospora crispa known to induce liver problems. It resulted in the department of Ayush issuing a clarification of the former's efficacy on October 5, 2021. The same researchers have now used botany, biochemistry and genome sequencing to conclusively prove the six patients had indeed taken giloy. "But the reason they suffered liver toxicity is they harboured an auto-immune condition that most likely got expressed by giloy's immune-enhancing ability,"' said Dr Aabha Nagral, the main researcher from Jaslok Hospital who treated the six patients. The latest research, published in the November issue of 'Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology', has for the first time in medical history published an algorithm to differentiate between the two medicinal herbs and provide guidelines to analysing any unknown herb producing injury. Giloy is a super herb widely used in Ayurveda. "It is called amrut as it gives life. Giloy is so regenerative that even if a small part of the plant falls to ground, it creates a new plant," said Dr Govind Khati, former dean of Podar Ayurveda Hospital and department of Ayush director. He said it "could cause no harm". The researchers found giloy raises immune markers in blood, but brought autoimmune hepatitis to the fore in a subset of patients (with hypothyroidism and diabetes). The previous study got much response from both the Ayush community defending giloy and from liver specialists who reported patients undergoing a liver transplant after giloy use. "Modern drugs too have side-effects, including liver toxicity, but they carry warnings. A similar process needs to be followed for herbal drugs as public perception of all herbs as safe is not accurate," said Dr Nagral. During Covid, the six patients who were studied used giloy to boost immunity. Four used the plant to get an extract, while others used commercially available products. The patient who died had used the readymade product. For the second study, the team collected the four plant samples and two commercial preparations consumed by their patients. It had a tough time finding Tinospora crispa for use as the "control sample" against which samples could be evaluated. "We found that Tinospora crispa doesn't grow in Maharashtra and we initially tried to get it from Assam," said Dr Nagral. They later found a local researcher cultivating the plant for her own study. "We waited for six months for the plant to grow," said the doctor. "Based on morphological, microscopic, phytochemical, and DNA studies, the four plant part samples were identified as Tinospora cordifolia or giloy. The two commercial preparations could not be analysed as other ingredients interfered with analysis," said the study. R Nagral, quoting Ayush department notification of last October, said giloy should be consumed under medical supervision.
