Coronavirus Global Updates 06 August ::: Johnson & Johnson applies for EUA of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India

Fri Aug 6 10:08:10 CAT 2021

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Coronavirus Global Updates 06 August  ::: Johnson & Johnson applies for EUA of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India

Zimbabwe COVID19 Update

COVID-19 update: As at 05 August 2021, Zimbabwe had 114 489 confirmed cases, including 84 889 recoveries and 3 754 deaths. To date, a total of 1 780 541 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Johnson & Johnson applies for EUA of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India

Coronavirus News Updates:  India saw a single day rise of 44,643 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,18,56,757, while the active cases registered an increase for the third consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll climbed to 4,26,754 with 464 fresh fatalities. The active cases comprise 1.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.36 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. An increase of 3,083 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. As many as 16,40,287 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 47,65,33,650. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.72 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 11 days.The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.41 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,10,15,844 and the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 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. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

Are COVID vaccine passes moving the needle on getting people inoculated?

People in France have been rushing for COVID-19 vaccines since the government introduced a mandatory health pass to access bars and restaurants, stirring the debate about how to get more shots in arms to combat the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. Governments around the world are resorting to creative ways to encourage citizens to get inoculated - several countries are offering lottery tickets, the Netherlands gave away pickled herring and the US plans to offer USD 100 cash rewards to entice vaccine stragglers.

France has taken an altogether tougher approach, requiring health workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, while the country's highest court on Thursday backed the introduction of the health passes from August 9. Trade unions and some scientists have said the move, which has sparked protests in major towns and cities, is too blunt an instrument and may deepen opposition to vaccines among people who are already reluctant.

French President Emmanuel Macron also runs a risk that the health pass could revive the kind of Yellow Vest street protests that roiled the country in the early part of his term and knocked his agenda off course for months. But the country's vaccination rate has jumped since the policy was announced on July 12 and so far polling has shown public support for the stringent measures.

Johnson & Johnson applies for EUA of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India

Global healthcare major Johnson & Johnson on Friday said it has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India. Earlier on Monday, the company had said that it remained committed to bringing its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to India and looks forward to ongoing discussions with the Indian government.

"On August 5, 2021 Johnson & Johnson Pvt Ltd applied for EUA of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the government of India," a Johnson & Johnson India spokesperson said in a statement. This is an important milestone that paves the way for bringing the company's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the people of India, and the rest of the world, through a collaboration with Biological E Limited, the statement added.

"Biological E will be an important part of our global supply chain network, helping to supply our Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine through the extensive collaborations and partnerships we have with governments, health authorities and organisations such as Gavi and the COVAX Facility," the statement said. The EUA submission is based on topline efficacy and safety data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE clinical trial, which demonstrated that company's single-shot vaccine was 85 per cent effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied, and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalisation and death, beginning 28 days after vaccination, it added.

Microsoft requires vaccinations for workers, as office returns slow

Microsoft on Thursday joined the ranks of tech companies requiring returning workers to be vaccinated, as Amazon delayed its plan to reopen offices until next year. The earliest date for fully reopening Microsoft's US facilities will be October 4, according to the computing giant based near Amazon in the state of Washington.

"Starting in September, we'll also require proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors and any guests entering Microsoft buildings in the United States," Microsoft said in response to an AFP inquiry. Microsoft and other tech firms said they are closely tracking the pandemic and adapting plans as the situation evolves, keeping employee health as a top priority. E-commerce colossus Amazon confirmed that it is delaying return of employees to its corporate offices until January of next year instead of having them come back in September as originally hoped.

Every batch of Covaxin subjected to over 200 quality control tests: Bharat Biotech

Bharat Biotech which manufactures Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin has issued a statement in which it said that every batch of Covaxin is subjected to more than 200 quality control tests, followed by submission samples to Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL). The Hyderabad-based manufacturer issued the statement amid the reports of delayed production of its COVID-19 vaccine due to unsatisfactory test batch and quality issues.

"Every batch of Covaxin is subjected to more than 200 quality control tests at our facilities, followed by submission samples to Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) Government of India, only based on approval/release by CDL, are batches released commercially," read Bharat Biotech's statement. Suchitra Ella, co-founder of Bharat Biotech took to Twitter to clarify on the same and tweeted," Covaxin at BharatBiotech undergoes #200 odd #QC tests before getting approvals from @CDLKasauli for each batch release! our vaccines are simply world-class, made in India with pride". The statement came after reports that test batches of Covaxin from the Bengaluru plant were not satisfactory and got rejected leading to delayed production.

Novavax seeks India's approval to allow emergency use of its Covid vaccine

Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing company Novavax has said that it is looking for final approval from the Indian regulators to allow its vaccine for emergency use.US-based Novavax Inc has a vaccine manufacturing agreement with Serum Institute of India, which also manufactures the Covishield vaccine currently administered in the country.

Apart from India, the vaccine manufacturer has asked Indonesia and the Philippines to allow emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine, called Covovax.The Novavax two-dose shot is made with lab-grown copies of the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. That’s very different than other widely used vaccines that deliver genetic instructions for the body to make its spike protein.

In June, Novavax announced the vaccine had proved about 90% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 in a study of nearly 30,000 people in the US and Mexico. It also worked against variants circulating in those countries at the time. Side effects were mostly mild.As for the highly contagious Delta variant, Novavax claimed that giving a booster six months after a second shot revved up virus-fighting antibodies that could tackle that mutant.

Additional studies in Britain and elsewhere are testing if the Novavax shot could be used as a booster after other types of Covid-19 vaccines. The company said Indonesia already had expressed interest in using the Novavax vaccine as a booster following some Chinese-made shots.

Microsoft requires Covid vaccinations for workers as office returns slow

Microsoft on Thursday joined the ranks of tech companies requiring returning workers to be vaccinated, as Amazon delayed its plan to reopen offices until next year. The earliest date for fully reopening Microsoft's US facilities will be October 4, according to the computing giant based near Amazon in the state of Washington.

"Starting in September, we'll also require proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors and any guests entering Microsoft buildings in the United States," Microsoft said in response to an AFP inquiry. Microsoft and other tech firms said they are closely tracking the pandemic and adapting plans as the situation evolves, keeping employee health as a top priority.

E-commerce colossus Amazon confirmed that it is delaying return of employees to its corporate offices until January of next year instead of having them come back in September as originally hoped. "We require employees to wear masks in our offices, with the exception of those who have verified full vaccination," Amazon told AFP.

Delta variant increases demand and wait times for Covid-19 tests

More Americans are being tested for Covid-19—and waiting longer for results—as virus cases surge and places from offices to concert venues require people to show proof they aren’t infected.

Kerala launches new online system for Covid-19 death info to ensure transparency

The Kerala government has launched the Covid-19 death portal in order to maintain a proper record of the number of deaths due to coronavirus. The state government has launched the portal called 'Death Information Portal' which would include details like names, age, and gender of the people who succumbed to Covid-19. Kerala Health Minister Veena George said both government institutions and the public will have access to the portal.

"The public has the option, via this portal, to search the details of the death of their relatives. All deaths that the government has officially reported as COVID deaths can be found in this portal. The information can be procured by entering the details such as name, district, and date of death in the portal," George added. The launch of the death portal has come at a time when the state has been mired in controversies like inconsistencies in reporting, gaps in data, and the unusual disparities in death rate between districts, which have led to allegations of data manipulation by Kerala.

Centre releases 19 lakh additional doses to Tamil Nadu for performing well in vaccination: Minister

The Centre has released 19 lakh additional vaccines to Tamil Nadu for performing well in vaccination, Minister for medical and family welfare, Ma Subramanian said. Addressing reporters here, he said the increase in allotment to Tamil Nadu was on account of the efforts taken by the government. "Last month, the Centre had said it will allot 72 lakh doses. But, it released 19lakh additional doses.

Since Tamil Nadu has been performing well in vaccination theytold us that they will allot 79 lakh vaccines for this month (August)", he said. "Till date, the Centre had released 2.39 crore doses. We have over 10 lakhvaccines in-stock. Therefore, vaccination camps are being held across the statewithout any shortages", he said. The nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination drive was formally launched by Modi in January this year.

Over 86,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in a day in Delhi

Over 86,000 Covid vaccine doses were administered in Delhi the previous day, according to the city government's vaccination bulletin issued. A total of 86,163 doses were administered on Wednesday, of which 45,948 were the first doses. Delhi had five days of vaccine stock left as of Thursday morning, the bulletin said. The cumulative number of doses administered in the city so far has reached 1,03,81,616 -- 75,79.305 were the first doses and 28,02,311 the second doses.

The national capital had a balance stock of 8,22,540 coronavirus vaccines, of which 4,61,250 doses were of Covishield and 3,61,290 of Covaxin. A total of 1,67,840 Covisihield doses were added to the stock on Wednesday. The national capital's current vaccination capacity stands at 1,75,539 doses daily, the bulletin stated.

Nearly 58 lakh doses administered in India on August 5

Nearly 58 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered across India on August 5, according to the latest Health Ministry update. With that, the total number of doses administered in India inched closer to the 49 crore mark. Cumulatively, 57,97,808 vaccine doses were administered on the 202nd day of vaccination pushing the total coverage to 49,53,27,595, the Health Ministry said.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 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. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

India logs 44,643 new COVID-19 cases, 464 deaths

India saw a single day rise of 44,643 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,18,56,757, while the active cases registered an increase for the third consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll climbed to 4,26,754 with 464 fresh fatalities. The active cases comprise 1.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.36 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

An increase of 3,083 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. As many as 16,40,287 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 47,65,33,650. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.72 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 11 days.The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.41 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,10,15,844 and the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.

China seeks to control COVID-19 flare-up

China recorded another 80 locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Friday, as the country seeks to control the biggest flare-up since the original 2019 outbreak with a combination of lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions. Of the new cases, 58 were found in the eastern city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu province, where the highly contagious delta variant spread among airport workers in the provincial capital of Nanjing. Other cases were found in six provinces from tropical Hainan in the south to Inner Mongolia bordering on Russia.

That has taken the number of cases linked to the Nanjing outbreak to at least 1,222 since the middle of last month, prompting renewed travel restrictions, community lockdowns and the sealing off of a city of 1.5 million. Such measures have been implemented with much success following local outbreaks under China''s “zero tolerance” approach to the pandemic, although they are being seen as taking a major toll on society and the economy, stirring speculation that a new approach may be needed that allows for the virus to circulate to some manageable degree.

China says it has administered more than 1.6 billion doses of vaccine, although questions have been raised about the efficacy of the domestic jabs. Another 44 imported cases were reported on Friday and 1,370 people are currently being treated for COVID-19, 34 of them in serious condition, according to the National Health Commission. China has reported 4,636 deaths out of 93,498 confirmed cases.

Maharashtra's Thane district adds 283 COVID-19 cases, death toll up by 13

The COVID-19 tally of Thane district in Maharashtra rose by 283 to reach 5,46,108, an official said on Friday. These cases were reported on Thursday, he said. The virus claimed the lives of 13 more persons in the district, which pushed its death toll to 11,079. The COVID-19 mortality rate of the district is 2.02 per cent at present, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the case count has gone up to 1,33,591, while the death toll is 3,208 another official said.

Majority of global public thinks economic recovery to take time; Indians 3rd most optimistic: WEF study

An average of three in four adults believe it will take at least two more years for their country's economy to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and that businesses and governments are expected to share this responsibility, even as Indians are the third most optimistic lot after their counterparts from China and Saudi Arabia, a study showed on Thursday.

The findings from the latest World Economic Forum/Ipsos market survey of almost 22,000 people across 29 countries also revealed that only 7 per cent globally believe that their country's economy has already recovered, with this view being the most widely held in China (56 per cent). The comparable figure for Saudi Arabia was 25 per cent and 11 per cent for India.

Quoting the study, the WEF said in a statement that the responsibility to lead this economic recovery falls to both governments and businesses, but civil society plays a crucial role and must not be left behind.While China topped the optimism chart with as many as 83 per cent of respondents there saying their economy has either already recovered or will recover within one year, it was followed by 63 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 38 per cent in India and the US each.

Among Indian respondents, 38 per cent said the recovery will take 2-3 years, while 24 per cent expect it to take even longer, according to the survey.Globally, 39 per cent believe it will take their economy more than three years to recover from the pandemic, with those in Russia (66 per cent) and South Africa (62 per cent) most likely to hold this view.

COVID-19 3rd wave may pull GDP growth down to 7%: Economist Abhijit Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday alleging that the Centre is supplying more vaccines to BJP-ruled states and is depriving Bengal and said that she will not remain a "mute spectator". The TMC supremo also alleged that the state is getting a "much lower number of doses" of vaccines despite its very high population density and that several letters sent to the prime minister on the same issue earlier “have not received due attention”.

She urged the prime minister to ramp up the supply of vaccines or the coronavirus situation in West Bengal might turn grim. The state requires around 14 crore doses of COVID vaccines to cover all the eligible people, she said. "Presently we are administering four lakh doses per day and are capable of administering 11 lakh doses per day. Yet we are getting much lower number of doses despite having a very high population density and a higher rate of urbanisation," Banerjee said in the letter.

"I am sorry to say the Central government is providing a larger number of vaccine doses to states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, which are BJP-ruled. I have no problem if they or any other state for that matter receives higher number of vaccine doses, but I cannot remain a mute spectator to see Bengal deprived." she said. "Even after the devastation caused by the second wave the Centre has not been augmenting supply of vaccines to the states on war footing to combat future waves (of COVID). As a result, thousands of innocent people are still being affected everyday," she wrote.

India reports 44,643 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours

Centre releases 19 lakh additional doses to Tamil Nadu for performing well in vaccination: Minister

The Centre has released 19 lakh additional vaccines to Tamil Nadu for performing well in vaccination, Minister for medical and family welfare, Ma Subramanian said. Addressing reporters here, he said the increase in allotment to Tamil Nadu was on account of the efforts taken by the government. "Last month, the Centre had said it will allot 72 lakh doses. But, it released 19lakh additional doses.

Since Tamil Nadu has been performing well in vaccination theytold us that they will allot 79 lakh vaccines for this month (August)", he said. "Till date, the Centre had released 2.39 crore doses. We have over 10 lakhvaccines in-stock. Therefore, vaccination camps are being held across the statewithout any shortages", he said. The nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination drive was formally launched by Modi in January this year.

Over 86,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in a day in Delhi
Over 86,000 Covid vaccine doses were administered in Delhi the previous day, according to the city government's vaccination bulletin issued. A total of 86,163 doses were administered on Wednesday, of which 45,948 were the first doses. Delhi had five days of vaccine stock left as of Thursday morning, the bulletin said. The cumulative number of doses administered in the city so far has reached 1,03,81,616 -- 75,79.305 were the first doses and 28,02,311 the second doses.

The national capital had a balance stock of 8,22,540 coronavirus vaccines, of which 4,61,250 doses were of Covishield and 3,61,290 of Covaxin. A total of 1,67,840 Covisihield doses were added to the stock on Wednesday. The national capital's current vaccination capacity stands at 1,75,539 doses daily, the bulletin stated.

Over 49 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has gone past 49 crore, the Union health ministry said on Thursday. More than 50.29 lakh (50,29,573) vaccine doses were administered on Thursday, according to a provisional report compiled at 7 pm. The ministry said 27,26,494 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received the first dose, while 4,81,823 were administered the second dose of the vaccine on Thursday.

Cumulatively, 16,92,68,754 people in the 18-44 age group have received the first dose and 1,07,72,537 have been administered the second dose of the vaccine since the start of the third phase of the nationwide inoculation drive, the ministry said. Five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh -- have administered more than one crore vaccine doses each to beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group. Also, the first dose of the vaccine has been administered to more than 10 lakh beneficiaries in the said age group each in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Maharashtra govt clears financial package for folk artists hit by COVID-19 lockdown
The Maharashtra government on Thursday approved a Rs 34 crore relief package for folk music artists, producers of folk art, touring talkies and organisations associated with them to help them overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdown. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray cleared a proposal of financial assistance for people and groups associated with folk music and other streams after a meeting with Culture Minister Amit Deshmukh here. A statement from the Chief Minister''s Office said, 56,000 folk artists will get Rs 5,000 each as financial assistance.

This will add a financial burden of Rs 28 crore on the state exchequer. Similarly, there are 847organisations which are active in various folk arts like ''tamasha'', ''shahiri'' and touring talkies (showing movies in tents), and the government will spend Rs 6 crore to provide relief to them, the statement said. The ban on cultural events in the state in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020 and the subsequent lockdown severely affected artists and their organisations.

Kerala gets 3.61 lakh additional COVID-19 vaccine doses
Kerala has received 3.61 lakh more doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the state government said here on Thursday. The state on Wednesday received two lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 1,61,440 Covaxin jabs at the regional vaccine stores in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, Health Minister Veena George said in a release. Kerala has now administered 2,13,01,782 Covid vaccine cumulatively in first and second doses (1,50,32,333 first doses and 62,69,449 second doses) even as the state inoculated a total of 1,87,504 people on Thursday, the government said.

Delta sweeps Sydney as Australia widens COVID-19 restrictions

Australian officials on Friday warned Sydney residents to brace for a surge in COVID-19 cases after the country's largest city logged record infections for the second straight day despite a weeks-long lockdown to stamp out an outbreak of Delta variant.

Amazon delays office return until January as COVID-19 cases surge
Amazon.com Inc on Thursday said it would not expect U.S. corporate employees to return to the office until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Seattle-based company said it was extending its work-from-home period to Jan. 3, 2022, from its earlier guidance of Sept. 7 for the United States and other countries it did not name, according to an internal note seen by Reuters.

”As we continue to closely watch local conditions related to COVID-19, we are adjusting our guidance for corporate employees,” the note said. Amazon told Reuters its employees’ health was its top priority and it will keep adhering to local government guidance for a safe office return. It said it will require masks in offices except for staff who verify they are fully vaccinated.

A spike in COVID-19 infections, powered by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, has prompted some big companies to put off plans to reopen offices. The United States is reporting the highest daily average number of infections globally, at 94,819, according to data gathered by Reuters. Last week, Alphabet Inc’s Google said it would extend its work-from-home policy through Oct. 18, Facebook Inc said it would require vaccinations for U.S. employees in offices, and Twitter Inc said it would close workspaces it already had reopened. Amazon’s action a week after announcements from its peers offers a look into evolving safety protocols during the pandemic as well as the battle for tech talent.

Moderna says its COVID-19 shot maintains high efficacy through 6 months
Moderna Inc said on Thursday its COVID-19 vaccine was about 93% effective through six months after the second dose, showing hardly any change from the 94% efficacy reported in its original clinical trial.

Victoria enters sixth pandemic lockdown as Australia widens restrictions
More than half of all Australians woke up to hard lockdowns on Friday as the country battles to contain COVID-19 outbreaks fuelled by the Delta virus variant, with Victoria reporting a slight easing in locally acquired cases. Lockdowns have been enforced across the east coast, including Australia's three largest cities - Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane - putting more than 60% of the country's 25 million population under strict stay-home orders.

Victoria, home to nearly 7 million people, was plunged into its sixth lockdown since the pandemic began on Thursday night, just weeks after exiting its last, jolting residents and triggering an anti-lockdown rally in state capital Melbourne. Six locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were detected in Victoria on Friday, a day after several unlinked new infections in Melbourne suddenly emerged. It reported eight cases on Thursday.

China sees highest daily coronavirus cases in current outbreak
China reported on Friday its highest daily count for new coronavirus cases in its current outbreak, fuelled by a surge in locally transmitted infections. China reported 124 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the mainland for Aug. 5, according to the National Health Commission. That’s up from 85 a day earlier. Of the new confirmed infections, 80 were locally transmitted, the health authority said, up from 62 local cases a day earlier.

The local cases were driven by a surge in infections in eastern Jiangsu province, which reported 61 new cases for Aug. 5, up from 40 a day earlier. The new infections were mainly in the city of Yangzhou. Overall, China reported 58 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, which it does not classify as confirmed infections, compared with 54 a day earlier. No new deaths were reported. As of Aug. 5, mainland China has recorded 93,498 confirmed cases. The cumulative death toll is unchanged at 4,636.

South Korea extends social distancing curbs to reduce COVID-19 cases
South Korea will extend its social distancing curbs by two weeks as the government contends with outbreaks nationwide and more people fall severely ill, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on Friday. The government tightened restrictions last week across most of the country ahead of the country's peak summer holiday period. Seoul and surrounding regions have banned private gatherings of more than two people after 6 p.m. and any gatherings of more than four people are prohibited in the rest of the country.

Kim said the restrictions were crucial to stamping out cases and ensuring a safe reopening of schools in two weeks. Health experts had called for tougher social distancing rules as the number of severe COVID-19 cases has doubled in three weeks, driven largely by young, unvaccinated people and a slow vaccination drive. The mortality rate remains relatively low at 1.02%, while severe cases rose by 7 to 376 as of Thursday.

With the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant, a rise in movement of people despite the restrictions, and mobilised health personnel focused on the vaccination drive rather than contact tracing, epidemiological work seems to have struggled to catch up, Lee Soon-young, president of the Korean Society of Epidemiology, told Reuters in an e-mail.

“It is true that the momentum for contact tracing is diminishing due to more movement, a surge in infections from new variants and due to overlapping tasks for vaccination adverse reaction checks, which has resulted in an increase in the number of cases of unknown transmission routes,” Lee wrote. The country has administered at least one shot to 40% of its 52 million population, while 14.7% have been fully vaccinated, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) data showed. It aims to push up that number to 70% by next month. The KDCA on Friday reported 1,704 cases for Thursday, bringing the total to 207,406 infections, with 2,113 deaths.

Andhra Pradesh logs 2,145 new COVID-19 cases, 24 deaths
The number of active coronavirus cases increased by 118 as Andhra Pradesh reported 2,145 afresh, 2,003 recoveries and 24 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday. The active caseload increased to 20,302 after a total of 19,42,371 recoveries and 13,468 deaths. The cumulative positive cases registered in the state rose to 19,76,141, according to the latest bulletin. In 24 hours, East Godavari reported 428, Chittoor 369, SPS Nellore 304, Krishna 251, Guntur 181, Prakasam 160, West Godavari 108 and Kadapa 103 fresh Covid-19 cases.

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine tallies more than $4B in Q2 sales
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine brought in more than $4 billion in second-quarter sales, helping to push the vaccine developer into a profit. The company also said Thursday an analysis showed that its vaccine remains 93% effective as much as six months after the second dose. Moderna’s announcement comes after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. said its COVID-19 vaccine remained effective months after the second doseand had become a top seller. It brought in nearly half the company’s revenue — $7.84 billion from direct sales and revenue split with its partner, Germany’s BioNTech.

Kerala posts 22,040 new COVID-19 cases, 117 deaths
Kerala on Thursday reported 22,040 fresh coronavirus cases and 117 deaths, taking the total infection count to 34.93 lakh and the toll to 17,328. As many as 20,046 people have been cured of the infection since Wednesday, taking the total recoveries to 32,97,834. The number of active cases stood at 1,77,924, a state government release said. The state tested 1,63,376 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 13.49 per cent. So far, 2.80 crore samples have been tested, it said.

Xi Jinping says China aims to provide 2 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses to world in 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday said China will strive to provide 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries in 2021, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In his written message to an international COVID-19 vaccine cooperation forum, Xi also said China would donate $100 million to the COVAX global vaccine distribution scheme, according to the CCTV report.

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

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ART

PPC

Dairibord

Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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