Covid News and Updates

Author – Dr Amit Verma, Molecular Oncologist and Cancer Geneticist.

Affiliation – Dr AV Cancer Institute of Personalized Cancer Therapy and Research, Gurgaon.

Lung cancer patients are more likely to contract COVID-19 as they already have diminished lung capacity due to the damage caused by cancer. Consequently, COVID-19 can put additional strain on their lungs, and the chances of experiencing respiratory issues are also severe in such cases. In addition, a lot of cancer patients have a higher risk of developing infections in the first place.

This may be the result of cancer or the treatment that the patient undergoes. For instance, mucus in their lungs aids in the capture of bacteria. Their body then coughs these bacteria out. A lung tumour may interfere with mucus outflow and increase infection risk. Some cancer treatments can also impair immune function, increasing the patients’ susceptibility to infections. However, in general, COVID-19-related effects that lung cancer patients may experience are comparable to those that affect the general population.

These may consist of pneumonia, a secondary bacterial or viral infection, blood clots that could be dangerous, apart from acute respiratory distress syndrome that may harm to further organs, such as the kidneys, liver, and heart. Additionally, COVID-19 may result in long-term difficulties. Damage to the lungs and other organs can also take time to heal, especially for those with cancer. 

What is COVID-19 treatment for persons with lung cancer?

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a number of medications to assist treat COVID-19 in individuals at serious risk of getting extremely unwell, in addition to supportive care and symptom management.Antivirals and monoclonal antibodies are two general groups for these therapies. Antiviral medications stop the virus’s growth inside your body. Remdesivirand molnupiravir are two examples. Your immune system is assisted in battling the infection by monoclonal antibodies. Covid 19 implications also has effects on lung cancer treatment like the long term side effect such as Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD). Patients suffering from ILD cannot be administered with immunotherapy which is a choice of treatment for many eligible lung cancer patients.

How to minimise the risk of catching COVID-19 infection?

The best approach to safeguard someone against COVID-19 in case of lung cancer is to get them immunised. Most significantly, should that person become ill, that will reduce his/her risk of developing a serious illness or passing away.Additional defence strategies include putting on a mask when in public, retaining physical distance while in public or avoid densely populated/poorly ventilated places, maintaining good hygiene and frequently cleaning hands adequately.

According to a daily bulletin released on Saturday by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India recorded 7,171 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, approximately 362 fewer than the count reported yesterday. In the last two days, the number of Covid-19 positive cases has decreased. According to official records, approximately 9,355 cases of Covid-19 were reported on Thursday, with the country recording 7,533 cases on Friday.

According to Health Ministry data, the total number of active cases in the country has dropped to 51,314 from 53,852 previously. The daily positivity rate is 3.69%, while the weekly positivity rate is 4.72 percent. According to the Health Ministry, 92.64 crore Covid-19 tests have been performed so far, with 1,94,134 tests performed in the last 24 hours.
According to the Ministry, 3,875 doses of vaccine have been administered in the last 24 hours, with a recovery rate of 98.70%.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Nationwide Vaccination Drive has resulted in the administration of 220.66 crore total vaccine doses, including 95.21 crores of Second Doses and 22.87 crores of Precaution Doses.
Meanwhile, medical experts have warned that the new XBB1.16 variant has the potential to bypass people’s immune systems, and the next four weeks are critical.

Dr. Randeep Guleria, former director of AIIMS in Delhi, stated that while the country is experiencing a new surge in Covid-19 infections, the situation is not alarming. “Covid-19 cases have been on the rise across the country. But the majority of the infections are mild. The rate of hospitalisation hasn’t gone up either. It’s not a panic-like situation yet,” Guleria told ANI.

India reported 7,533 new Covid-19 cases and 11,047 recoveries in the last 24 hours with the active cases now standing at 53,852 on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Active cases stand at 0.12 per cent of the total cases reported in the country. Having 11,047 recoveries in the last 24 hours, India’s total recovery increased to 4,43,47,024 with the recovery stand at 98.68 per cent. Taking the daily positivity rate to 3.62 per cent.

Under the nationwide Vaccination Drive, India has so far administered 220.66 crore Covid vaccine doses (95.21 cr second dose and 22.87 cr precaution dose), of which 4,775 doses were administered in the last 24 hours.

A total of 92.63 crore tests conducted so far with 2,08,112 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

A recent study from Cedars-Sinai’s Smidt Heart Institute suggests that prolonged COVID-19 may be caused by immune system dysfunction. The study, published in BMC Infectious Diseases, discovered that people with long COVID-19 produced antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19 for months longer than expected after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

When a person is infected, the immune system usually responds by producing antibodies that prevent germs from entering cells. Vaccines mimic an infection so that the body’s immune system knows when it encounters a virus to release specific antibodies. When the suspected infection is gone, the immune system eventually stops producing antibodies in both cases.

“There’s general consensus that some level of aberrant immune response happens in long COVID-19, and this study adds to the evidence to suggest this is true,” said Catherine Le, MD, co-director of the Cedars-Sinai COVID-19 Recovery Program and a senior author of the study.

Long COVID-19 is a condition in which people experience COVID-19-related symptoms three months or more after being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. It is estimated that 65 million people worldwide suffer from Long COVID-19. Fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction such as confusion and forgetfulness are common symptoms. Some symptoms can be incapacitating.

Researchers analysed blood samples from 245 people diagnosed with long COVID-19 and 86 people who had COVID-19 and recovered to study the immune response of people with long COVID-19. All participants in the study had either one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine regimen.

“We examined one part of the immune system response, the production of antibodies, which is mediated by immune cells called B-cells,” Le explained.

The researchers focused on two types of antibodies that attack the virus that causes COVID-19. One of these is the spike protein antibody, which targets a protein on the virus’s surface. The nucleocapsid antibody, on the other hand, attacks the part of the virus that allows it to replicate.

The researchers discovered that people with long COVID-19 had higher levels of spike protein and nucleocapsid antibodies than people without long COVID-19. Antibody levels in people without long COVID-19 began to decline eight weeks after receiving a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as expected. People with long COVID-19, on the other hand, had elevated antibody levels, particularly nucleocapsid antibodies.

“What you would expect after getting a COVID-19 vaccination is a jump in your spike protein antibody levels, but you wouldn’t expect a significant increase in nucleocapsid antibody levels,” said Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, the Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health and Population Science, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute, and a senior author of the study. “You would also expect these levels to eventually decrease and not persist for so long after vaccination.”

According to the study’s authors, while this study shows that long COVID-19 affects the immune system, it is too early to draw firm conclusions from these findings.

“Theoretically, the production of these antibodies could mean that people are more protected from infection,” Le said. “We also need to investigate if the elevated immune response corresponds with severity or number of long COVID-19 symptoms.”

Blood samples from people with long COVID-19 are still being studied by researchers. They hope to find a measurable molecule that can be used to diagnose long COVID-19 and learn more about the biological processes that cause it.

Over 270 Covid-19 subvariants have emerged in China within a week, the NTD reported, adding that the country’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention made the announcement last week.

On Saturday last, China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention announced that over 275 new Covid-19 subvariants were detected in the country within 7 days. The Epoch Times reported that the Chinese authorities have discovered these new sub-variants from April 14 to 20. The Chinese media reported that residents are posting their positive results online revealing that many are getting re-infected.

According to The Epoch Times, many residents are posting their positive virus test results online, pointing to a trend of reinfection. Now, concerns over possible mutations are front and centre.

In a social media post, an internet user shared that her husband and two children caught the virus once again. So far their symptoms are mild. In another post, the entire family was re-infected after 3 months they got tested positive once, as per The Epoch Times.

A prominent Chinese virologist gave his take on what is going on. He explained that if the virus were to mutate the reinfections will start happening about half a year later and usually on a limited scale.

“But if that mutation changed enough to break through the human immune system then the trend of reinfections could be enough to form a second wave,” he added, as per The Epoch Times.

Earlier on Tuesday, China said travellers entering the country are no longer required to show a negative PCR test for Covid. This came as another step toward reopening after a long period of pandemic-era isolation, The New York Times reported.

A spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry said, beginning April 29, people going to China can take an antigen test to replace the previously mandated PCR test within 48 hours before boarding their flight.

The spokeswoman, Mao Ning, added that airlines would not check test results before boarding. She did not say whether others, such as immigration officials, would check.

Notices by Chinese embassies overseas said that travellers arriving in China would still need to fill out a health declaration form and that customs officials would conduct unspecified spot checks, according to The New York Times.
China-based SHINE recently reported that New XBB COVID sub-variants had been reported in China. In the past week, there were 12 new sub-variants detected in China.

China from December 1 to April 20 reported 32,993 effective genomic sequences of domestic cases. All were confirmed as Omicron variants covering 117 sub-variants, with BA.5.2 and BF.7 as dominants, according to the weekly report issued by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

The centre detected 603 cases of variants under strict inspection, including the 12 sub-variants being found for the first time, according to SHINE.

India reported over 10,000 COVID cases for the fifth straight day with 10,112 new infections in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

The country saw a little dip from Saturday’s COVID cases tally. India recorded 12,193 on April 22, 11,692 on April 21, 12,591 on April 20, 10,542 on April 19, 7,633 on April 18, and 9,111 on April 17.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the country’s active cases increased to 67,806 which was 67,556 yesterday.
Presently recovery rate stands at 98.66 per cent, the Health Ministry stated further.

As many as 9,833 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours taking the overall count of people cured of the infection to 4,42,92,854, according to the Ministry.

Under the nationwide vaccination drive, India has so far administered 220.66 crore Covid vaccine doses (95.21 cr second doses and 22.87 cr precautionary doses), of which 1,947 doses were administered in the last 24 hours.

The total number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours is 1,43,899, the health ministry stated.
In wake of the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, Dr PK Mishra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister earlier chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to assess the situation.

The PMO informed in a statement that the focus of the meeting was on the status of preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, drugs, vaccination campaign in the country and the key necessary steps as a response to the recent surge in Covid cases.

Fresh The Union health ministry reported on Friday that 11,692 covid-19 infections were recorded in the country in the last 24 hours, a decrease from Thursday’s tally of 12,591 cases.

India had 12,591 people on April 20, 10,542 people on April 19, 7,633 people on April 18, 9,111 people on April 17, 10,093 people on April 16, and 10,753 people on April 15. According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of active cases in the country has risen to 66,170 from 65,286 yesterday.

The current recovery rate is 98.68%, with 0.15 percent of active cases, according to the Health Ministry’s release.

Further, 10,780 recoveries in the last 24 hours to the overall count of people cured of the infection to 4,42,72,256, the bulletin stated, adding that the overall recovery rate is currently at 98.67 per cent.
Under the nationwide Vaccination Drive, India has so far administered 220,66,31,979 crore Covid vaccine doses (95.21 cr second doses and 22.87 cr precautionary doses), of which 3,647 doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
The total number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours is 2,29,739, the health ministry stated.

Covid meetings

In wake of the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, Dr PK Mishra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to assess the situation.
The PMO informed in a statement that the focus of the meeting was on the status of preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, drugs, vaccination campaign in the country and the key necessary steps as a response to the recent surge in Covid cases.

“Dr PK Mishra stressed that the time tested 5-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence COVID Appropriate Behaviour must continue to be implemented and equally crucial to promote awareness within the community regarding COVID appropriate behaviour and caution citizens against complacency,” the PMO statement read.
During the meeting, a comprehensive presentation was made by Rajesh Bhushan, the Secretary of Health and Family Welfare providing an overview of the global COVID-19 situation.

Bhushan highlighted that India has been witnessing a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases with the majority of cases being reported in eight states; Kerala, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. Further, the sudden increase in positivity was also highlighted along with the status of tests being conducted in the country. A detailed analysis of active cases within these eight states was presented. It was highlighted that approximately 92 per cent of the cases are under home isolation.

The presentation also provided an overview of the Genome Sequencing of different variants since January 2023 and noted the proportion of circulating variants in India. The status of vaccination was discussed, followed by drug availability and infrastructure preparedness across the country, the PMO stated.

As per directions of the Prime Minister, a nationwide mock drill for the assessment of functional infrastructure was conducted and the status of the mock drill was presented to participants. Further, the expenditure of the COVID-19 vaccination programme and budget provisions for drugs and vaccine raw materials were also reviewed.

Health Secretary also informed that states have already been advised that they may take steps for procurement of requisite Covid vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers at their end without any prior approvals from the Union Ministry of Health. Private Hospitals situated in the States may also directly procure such Vaccines from the manufacturer These vaccines once procured may be administered as per the existing Covid vaccination guidelines.

He also advised the officials to maintain a strict vigil on the COVID-19 situation and take necessary actions to contain the COVID-19 spread.

New 12,591 Covid-The Union health ministry said on Thursday that 19 infections were recorded across the country in the last 24 hours, a significant increase from Wednesday’s tally of 10,542 cases. Earlier last week, the country saw a downward trend in the five days from April 15 to April 18, with 11,109 and 7,633 cases reported, respectively. On April 18, India recorded 7,633 people, 9,111 on April 17, 10,093 on April 16, and 10,753 on April 15.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of active cases in the country has risen to 65,286 from 63,562 yesterday. The current recovery rate is 98.67%, with a daily positivity rate of 5.46 percent, according to the Health Ministry’s release.

New 12,591 Covid-The Union health ministry said on Thursday that 19 infections were recorded across the country in the last 24 hours, a significant increase from Wednesday’s tally of 10,542 cases. Earlier last week, the country saw a downward trend in the five days from April 15 to April 18, with 11,109 and 7,633 cases reported, respectively. On April 18, India recorded 7,633 people, 9,111 on April 17, 10,093 on April 16, and 10,753 on April 15.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of active cases in the country has risen to 65,286 from 63,562 yesterday. The current recovery rate is 98.67%, with a daily positivity rate of 5.46 percent, according to the Health Ministry’s release.

Following a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, Dr. PK Mishra, the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary, convened a high-level meeting on Wednesday to assess the situation. According to the PMO, the meeting focused on the status of preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, drugs, vaccination campaign in the country, and the key necessary steps in response to the recent surge in Covid cases.

“Dr PK Mishra stressed that the time tested 5-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence COVID Appropriate Behaviour must continue to be implemented and equally crucial to promote awareness within the community regarding COVID appropriate behaviour and caution citizens against complacency,” the PMO statement read.

During the meeting, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, provided a comprehensive overview of the global COVID-19 situation.

Bhushan stated that the number of COVID-19 cases in India has been rapidly increasing, with the majority of cases being reported in eight states: Kerala, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. Furthermore, the unexpected increase in positivity was highlighted, as was the status of tests being conducted in the country. A thorough examination of active cases within these eight states was presented. It was stated that approximately 92% of the cases are being treated at home.

The presentation also provided an overview of different variants’ genome sequencing since January 2023, as well as the proportion of circulating variants in India. According to the PMO, the status of vaccination was discussed, followed by drug availability and infrastructure readiness across the country.

A nationwide mock drill for the assessment of functional infrastructure was conducted per the Prime Minister’s instructions, and the status of the mock drill was presented to participants. Furthermore, the COVID-19 vaccination program’s expenditures and budget provisions for drugs and vaccine raw materials were examined.

The Health Secretary also stated that states have already been advised that they may proceed with the procurement of required Covid vaccine doses directly from manufacturers without seeking prior approval from the Union Ministry of Health. Private hospitals in the United States may also obtain such vaccines directly from the manufacturer. Once obtained, these vaccines can be administered in accordance with the current Covid vaccination guidelines. He also advised officials to keep a close eye on the COVID-19 situation and to take the necessary steps to contain the COVID-19 spread.

According to the Union Health Ministry’s daily bulletin, a total of 10,753 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the country in the last 24 hours, a marginal decrease from Friday’s count of 11,109 cases. India recorded 10,158 new Covid cases on Thursday. The active caseload stood at 53,720, or 0.12% of the total cases, according to the union health ministry on Saturday.

The country saw 6,628 recoveries in the last 24 hours, bringing total recoveries to 4,42,23,211, with a recovery rate of 98.69%, according to the bulletin. According to the report, the daily positivity rate was 6.68 percent, while the weekly positivity rate was 4.49 percent.

According to the report, a total of 220.66cr vaccine doses have been administered under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive, with 397 doses administered in the last 24 hours. It goes on to say that with 1,58,625 coronavirus tests performed in the last 24 hours, the total number of tests performed to date stands at 92.38 crores. With the recent increase in Covid cases, medical experts have warned that the new XBB1.16 variant is capable of evading people’s immune systems, and the next four weeks are critical.

“COVID-19 in India is moving towards the endemic stage. Covid will rise for the next 10 days, but cases will start reducing. Even though cases are increasing but hospitalization is low. The current rise in cases is due to the XBB.1.16 variant which is a sub-variant of Omicron,” an official told ANI on Wednesday.

Mock drills were conducted on April 10 and 11 in a total of 33,685 health facilities, including 28,050 government facilities and 5,635 private health facilities, amid a gradual increase in COVID-19 cases in several states.

Following the increasing number of Covid cases, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated earlier this month that lawyers are free to appear virtually in court. According to CJI Chandrachud, newspaper reports show that Covid cases are on the rise, and if a lawyer wants to appear virtually before the court, they can, and the hybrid mode is also available.

“We saw newspaper reports on rising Covid cases. Lawyers can use hybrid mode. If you choose to appear online, we will hear you,” said the CJI.

After considering the low infection rate and the number of Covid cases in Delhi and across the country, the Supreme Court reverted to the physical hearing mode of case adjudication on April 4, 2022.

Following the increasing number of Covid cases, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated earlier this month that lawyers are free to appear virtually in court.
According to CJI Chandrachud, newspaper reports show that Covid cases are on the rise, and if a lawyer wants to appear virtually before the court, they can, and the hybrid mode is also available.

“We saw newspaper reports on rising Covid cases. Lawyers can use hybrid mode. If you choose to appear online, we will hear you,” said the CJI.

After considering the low infection rate and the number of Covid cases in Delhi and across the country, the Supreme Court reverted to the physical hearing mode of case adjudication on April 4, 2022. For quite some time, the Supreme Court has been successfully experimenting with the hybrid method, which is a combination of physical and virtual hearings. Even after physical hearings resume, the Supreme Court has begun live-streaming Constitution bench proceedings via the Supreme Court app and YouTube.

A Chinese scientist has claimed that the COVID-19 virus may have originated from humans, CNN reported.
Tong Yigang of the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, said that the genetic sequences of viral samples taken from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan thought to be the ground zero site of the pandemic, were “almost identical” to those of patients infected with the coronavirus, suggesting that COVID-19 may have originated from humans. Tong was speaking at a press conference held by the Chinese State Council regarding research into the origin of the virus.

Tong said that between January 2020 and March 2020, more than 1,300 environmental and frozen animal samples had been taken at the market, and researchers had isolated three strains of virus from the environmental samples.

He also said there was not yet sufficient evidence to back up recent studies that had suggested racoon dogs were the origin of the COVID-19 virus, according to CNN.

A Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researcher, Zhou Lei, while speaking at the same event, called for global scientific collaboration in tracing the origins of the virus, saying that the site where COVID-19 was first discovered was not necessarily where it originated.

According to CNN, China has in the past been heavily criticized for blocking international investigations into the origins of the virus. Earlier this week the World Health Organization said it still did not have key data from China about the beginnings of the outbreak, a lack of disclosure the head of its program on emerging diseases said was “simply inexcusable.”

China has, however, continuously said that it has been transparent and cooperative with the WHO.
Debates surrounding the origins of the virus recently re-emerged following an assessment last month by the US Department of Energy it was most likely the result of an accident from a laboratory. But the US agency also marked it as a “low confidence” determination, according to CNN.

Zhou on Saturday refuted the lab leak theory, saying it is “extremely unlikely.”
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently (local time) said that the organization will continue pushing until it finds an answer to how the COVID-19 pandemic started, following a report suggesting it had abandoned the search.

“We need to continue to push until we get the answer,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, referring to the search for the origins of the virus that first began spreading in China in late 2019.

Ghebreyesus in January spoke with Minister Ma Xiaowei, director of China’s National Health Commission about the COVID-19 situation in the country and sought deeper cooperation on the origins of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Spoke with Minister Ma Xiaowei about the #COVID19 situation in #China. I appreciated the release of detailed information, which we request they continue to share. Asked for the sharing of further sequences and cooperation on understanding the virus origins,” WHO chief tweeted.

Providence recently reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s deployment of an army general to take charge of Wuhan labs makes it clear that Xi was never transparent about the origin of the virus and it was merely to set false narratives.