Coronavirus live updates: Spanish antibody study points to 5% of population affected by coronavirus

Lending a strong voice of support to Mamata Banerjee who charged the Centre with discrimination, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that leaking of central action and communications to the media ahead of informing states tantamounts to undermining their power. Within days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video conference with the chief ministers, Baghel said that even the Tamil Nadu chief minister has raised concern of not coordinating and informing states ahead of sending migrant trains, putting everybody in a grave danger of the novel coronavirus. "If the statements are made (by central leaders) and the information is leaked to newspapers including about the visit of the central team, then the states are justified in getting angry," he told PTI in an interview. Making a strong case for a more coordinated approach in the battle against the coronavirus, Baghel said the states "need to be and must be" taken into confidence. Read more

Disease control strategies employed by governments can dramatically alter the evolution of pathogens like the novel coronavirus, according to a study which says such measures can change the extent of symptoms a spreading virus causes in infected individuals. The study, published in the journal PNAS, examined the pros and cons of silent transmission on the long-term survival of a virus. According to the researchers, including those from the Princeton University in the US, the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 throughout the world is fuelled in part by the virus' ability to be transmitted by people who are not showing symptoms of infection. The findings, they said, could inform how public health experts plan control measures such as quarantines, testing, and contract tracing, adding that such strategies themselves may alter the evolutionary course of pathogenic viruses. Read more

The New Development Bank of the BRICS countries has fully disbursed $one billion emergency assistance loan to India to help it contain the spread of Covid-19 and reduce human, social and economic losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Shanghai-based New Development Bank (NDB) was established by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries in 2014 and is headed by veteran Indian banker K V Kamath. The purpose of the bank is to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries and other emerging economies and developing nations, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. Read more

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel echoes West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee's discrimination charge against Centre in Covid-19 fight