Covid: India's active cases over 4,400; mask mandates return at some US hospitals
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Cases of Covid are rising in many countries including the United States and India. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries in the Southeast Asia region to strengthen surveillance and for people to take protective measures given the increasing numbers of cases of respiratory diseases including due to Covid. The recently detected sub-variant JN.1 has sparked health concerns globally.
The WHO had classified JN.1 as a variant of interest and said current evidence showed the risk to public health was low from the strain. Till now, India has recorded over 500 cases of the variant. In the US, JN.1 has become the new dominant variant, a report by The Washington Post on Thursday (Jan 4) said.
>The total number of active Covid cases in India has climbed to 4,423, the health ministry's bulletin on Thursday showed. In the last 24 hours, India recorded 760 fresh cases, two deaths and 775 recoveries. The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, but cases have again gone up after the emergence of Jn.1 and cold weather conditions.
>In the US, hospitals in at least four states reinstated mask mandates amid a rise in cases of Covid, seasonal flu and other respiratory illnesses. According to a report by the news agency Reuters on Thursday, hospitals in New York, California, Illinois and Massachusetts made masks mandatory among patients and providers. Recent weekly data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that there were more than 29,000 hospitalisations from Covid across the country from Dec 17-23 last year, up more than 16% from the previous week.
>On Thursday, China's aviation regulator said that it expected the number of international flights to and from the country to reach 6,000 per week by the end of this year, or about 80% of pre-Covid levels. In a statement, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said that for the year ahead, it would continue to promote a "significant" increase in direct flights between China and the US from 63 flights presently.
>A recent study suggested that people with long Covid should not undertake intense exercise as it damages their muscles and worsens metabolism. "A distinctive symptom of patients with long Covid is post-exertional malaise, which is associated with a worsening of fatigue- and pain-related symptoms after acute mental or physical exercise, but its underlying pathophysiology is unclear," the study, published in the journal Nature Communications on Thursday said.
>Nepal is all set to destroy four million doses of the Sinovac Covid vaccine, which were procured from China in 2021. The destruction had been necessitated on the recommendation of the vaccine advisory committee which said the China-made vaccine is not fit for use as a booster dose as well as a regular dose.
(With inputs from agencies)