Only high-risk categories based on age or comorbidity need to get tested: ICMR

The Indian Council of Medical Research or ICMR said on Monday said that contacts of Covid-19 patients do not need to be tested unless identified as high-risk based on age or comorbidities. In a fresh set of guidelines, the top medical body said high-risk contacts of patients would be those above 60 years of age […]

India issues Omicron alert ahead of New Year as its tally crosses 101

Following the ongoing scare of the spread of the newly detected Omicron variant of COVID-19, the union government has warned against mass gatherings in the run-up to Christmas and New Year. The Union Health Ministry today informed that around 101 cases of the Omicron variant have been detected across 11 states in the country. Health […]

Assam: ICMR develops testing kit to detect Omicron in just two hours

The Indian Council of Medical Research Centre (ICMR) at Lahowal in Assam’s Dibrugarh district has developed a kit that can detect the latest Omicron variant of Covid-19 virus that has emerged as most infectious so far. The newly developed kit can detect the new variant within just two hours. A team of ICMR scientists led […]

India reports less than 40,000 daily new COVID-19 cases after 102 days

India on Tuesday reported 37,566 fresh COVID-19 cases, the first time in 102 days that daily cases dropped below the 40,000 mark, the Union Health Ministry informed. With this, the country’s total COVID-19 tally stands at 3,03,16,897, including 2,93,66,601 recoveries and 5,52,659 active cases. The COVID-19 death toll has mounted to 3,97,637 with 907 fatalities […]

India records 2.57 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases, 4,194 fatalities

The daily rise in coronavirus cases in India remained below the 3 lakh mark for the sixth consecutive day, with 2.57 lakh new cases recorded in a single day, the Union health ministry said on Saturday. With the fresh cases, India’s tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,62,89,290. The death toll due to the disease […]

ICMR drops plasma therapy from COVID-19 treatment guidelines

The use of convalescent plasma has been dropped from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19, according to late Monday advisory from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The National Task Force of the ICMR, along with experts from the Health Ministry, periodically updates guidelines on recommended modes of treatment. Registered Doctors anywhere, however, aren’t […]

Second wave of COVID-19 ‘less severe’ than the first: ICMR DG

Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director-General (DG) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday said that the ongoing second wave of the novel coronavirus in India is ‘less severe’ than the previous one. Speaking to ANI, Dr. Bhargava said: “Very clearly, we find that the symptoms are much less. As I mentioned that the […]

Covaxin effective on UK virus strain of COVID-19: ICMR

An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study on Covaxin shows a comparable neutralization activity of the vaccinated individuals against UK-variant strain. The ICMR’s National Institute of Virology scientist performed the plaque reduction neutralization test using sera collected from the 26 recipients of Bharat Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine (COVAXIN) against UK-variant strain. “A comparable neutralization activity […]

Non-judicious use of therapies for COVID-19 leads to virus mutations: ICMR chief

Non-judicious use of therapies that have not been established for COVID-19 treatment are responsible for putting “immune pressure on virus” and leads to virus mutations, ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday. “Those therapies which are being touted as ‘anti-viral’ or ‘anti-COVID therapies’ and they have do not have benefits established in a scientific […]