New Delhi: India reported 44,877 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, lesser than Saturday over 50,000 cases. India’s active case load currently stands at 5,37,045, comprising 1.26 of the total infections. The recovery rate is 97.55 per cent, while the daily and weekly positivity rates are 3.17 per cent and 4.46 per cent respectively.
Citing significant improvement in the Covid-19 situation, the Election Commission further relaxed pandemic-induced restrictions on the Assembly poll campaign in five states, allowing padayatras with a limited number of people and increasing the number of hours campaigning can take place in a day.
According to the poll panel, election campaign can now be conducted between 6 am and 10 pm instead of earlier 8 am to 8 pm, following all Covid-appropriate behaviour and protocols of state disaster management authorities. This will give candidates and parties four more hours to campaign in a day.
Political parties and candidates can campaign with a maximum of 50 per cent of the capacity of the designated open spaces or the limit prescribed by state disaster management authorities, whichever is less.
US health regulators authorised a new antibody drug that targets the omicron variant, a key step in restocking the nation’s arsenal against the latest version of Covid-19. The Food and Drug Administration said it cleared the Eli Lilly drug for adults and adolescent patients with mild-to-moderate cases of Covid-19. Lilly announced work on the treatment late last year after testing revealed that its previous antibody therapy was ineffective against the dominant omicron variant.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 booster shots lose much of their potency after about four months, raising the possibility that some Americans — specifically those at high risk of complications or death — may need a fourth dose, data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest. Preliminary research from Israel and Britain has hinted that protection from booster doses declines within a few months. The data released Friday offer the first real-world evidence of the mRNA shots’ waning power against moderate to severe illness in the United States.
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