-The Hindu ‘There is a better understanding of COVID-19 now’ Chennai: The World Health Organization’s Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan on Saturday said lockdowns were not needed since there was a better understanding of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Speaking to presspersons at an event in which a nutrition garden was inaugurated at Thiruvanmiyur by Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, she said, “During the first wave, we did not know much about it, which...

-The Hindu CM’s economic advisory team studies model for replication. A sustainable natural farming system adopted in southern Rajasthan’s Banswara district, which has created new livelihood sources and brought food security to indigenous tribal communities, has impressed the Chief Minister’s Economic Transformation Advisory Council. The model is being considered for replication elsewhere in the State. A 20-member team of the Council visited Banswara district’s Amlipara village earlier this week to study the techniques...

-NDTV.com People flying in from abroad will need to home quarantine for a week after landing in India and test on the eighth day, according to new rules. New Delhi: India reported 1,41,986 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, a week after the country crossed the 10,000 mark, as the virus continued to spread at an unprecedented pace, largely driven by the Omicron variant now present in 27 states. Here are the top...

-Down to Earth Bihar government has not focussed on ramping up testing despite its claims to the contrary, say activists Bihar is not testing enough even as novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases have surged in the past few days, an analysis of official state data shows. This is contrary to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Health Minister Mangal Pandey’s claim that the state is conducting a large number of tests. Bihar tested 184,750...

-Down to Earth India’s cumulative COVID-19 deaths are 6-7 times higher than reported officially, says analysis India’s death count for COVID-19 is a mystery for many experts. As of January 6, India reported a total of 346.76 deaths per million, which is much lower than that in rich countries such as the United States (2,505.11 deaths per million) and the United Kingdom (2,193.76 deaths per million).  The country’s cumulative number of deaths has...