Coronavirus live updates: Rapid tests to be given to poorer countries, WHO says

Can statins – cholesterol-lowering drugs — help reduce severity of the disease in Covid-19 patients? At least two recent studies, published in American Journal of Cardiology (AJC) and The EMBO Journal, support this theory.Statins are widely available and cheap, costing around Rs 5 to Rs 50 per tablet, depending on the dosage. The AJC study published on September 15 analysed the outcome of a study of 170 patients hospitalized for treatment of Covid-19 at UC San Diego Medical Centre in California, US. It showed use of statins prior to admission was associated with a more than 50% reduction in risk of developing severe Covid-19.

Global Covid-19 deaths surpassed 990,000 on Saturday, according to the Centre for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.The global death toll rose to 990,738, while there were more than 32.6 million cases worldwide as of 3:23 pm (1923 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

There is growing evidence that Vitamin D could help in the fight against Covid-19. Local doctors — and studies from other countries — say adequate levels of the Sunshine Vitamin, as it is called, could protect one against Covid or reduce its severity among infected patients. A study published in PLOS ONE medical journal by Boston University School of Medicine showed Covid-19 patients with 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 30 ng/mL (nanogram per millilitre) in blood had a lower risk of low oxygen called hypoxia, or death. These patients also had lower inflammation levels and higher lymphocytes (a type of immune cell to fight infection).

Amid rising demand for medical oxygen which is essential in treatment of moderate to severe Covid-19 patients, the pharmaceutical pricing regulator has capped the price of medical oxygen cylinders and liquid medical oxygen (LMO) for six months to ensure availability of medical oxygen at stable rates. While issuing the order, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said the high price of LMO was impacting operational viability of fillers, creating a supply shortage. The demand for medical oxygen has increased up to almost four times from 750 MT per day to around 2,800 MT per day after the the Covid outbreak. Around 6% of around 9.6 lakh currently “active” Covid cases need oxygen support.

More than 32.62 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 988,335 have died, according to a Reuters tally.Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

A trader says, "Navaratri festival boosts our sales, but this time it won't be organised. People are not buying lehengas or other stuff which used to be profitable for us."

Abhishek Prakash, DM says, "They'll distribute masks & monitor if norms of social distancing are being followed. Action will be taken if any violation will be recorded."

The government may need Rs 80,000 crore over the next one year for distribution of Covid-19 vaccine and immunization of the country’s population, Adar Poonawalla, CEO and promoter of the world’s largest vaccine producer, Serum Institute, said on Saturday.Calling it the “next concerning challenge”, which needs to be tackled, Poonawalla posted a tweet tagging the Prime Minister’s Office, which read: “We need to plan and guide vaccine manufacturers both in India and overseas to service the needs of our country in terms of procurement and distribution.”Serum has tie ups with global manufacturers AstraZeneca and Novavax for potential Covid-19 vaccines, which are currently undergoing clinical trials. The tweet, perceived by many as alarming, also raised concerns over the government’s ability to fund the massive vaccine programme.

The seven-day average of daily Covid-19 cases in India has been steadily falling for nine consecutive days from September 17 to September 26, the first time such a phase of continuous decline has been witnessed since the beginning of the outbreak. Even more hearteningly, this is despite the seven-day average of tests having increased from 10.7 lakh on September 17 to 11.2 lakh on September 25, the last date for which data is available.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth will recognise the work of hundreds of doctors, nurses, fundraisers and volunteers during the Covid pandemic when the her annual birthday honours list is published next month.The list, which was due to be published in June, was postponed in order to add nominations for people playing key roles in the early months of the outbreak. It will be released on Oct. 10.

India’s daily Covid-19 cases nudged upwards again with fresh infections crossing 89,000 on Saturday, the highest in a week. The daily tally of cases this week has so far stayed well below the numbers recorded last week, pointing to the possibility that the infection was past its peak, but the pandemic continues to surge in several states. With 89,104 fresh cases on Saturday, India’s cumulative caseload rose to 59,88,643, as per data collated from state governments. This was the highest daily count of cases since last Saturday (September 19), when 94,145 infections were reported.

New York state, the onetime epicenter of the US novel coronavirus epidemic, has seen case numbers rise to more than 1,000 a day, local officials said Saturday.These high figures have not seen since June 5, according to statistics released by the office of Governor Andrew Cuomo."Of the 99,953 tests reported yesterday (Friday), 1,005 were positive," Cuomo tweeted.