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B'luru: 499 children test positve for Covid in last 10 days

Bengaluru, Aug 12 (IANS) As many as 499 children have tested positive for Covid-19 during the first ten days of August in Bengaluru, creating a worrisome situation for parents.According to a health bulletin, about 88 children between the age group of 0 to 9 years and 305 children between the age of 10 to 19 years have tested positive for the coronavirus.Out of 499 cases, 263 were reported in last five days. Among these, 88 are between 0 to 9 years and 175 are between 10 and 19 years old.The health department has considered this development as alarming situation and has already started initiating strict measures to contain the infections.In the coming few weeks the number might get three times more than this, sources in the health department explain.Parents have been advised to vaccinate themselves with two doses of Covid first and then monitor their children properly and avoiding them from crowded places.The state is recording 1,500 plus Covid cases on an average and so far 15,919 deaths have occurred due to the virus.At least 19 children between the ages of 0 and 9 have died and 26 children in age group of 10 to 19 have lost their lives. Hence, 45 children of the age group of 0 to 19 years have died. As many as 279 of the age group of 20 to 30 have lost their lives to the deadly coronavirus.--IANSmka/shs/skp/
CoronaVirus Updates

20 students of two schools in Punjab test Covid positive

Chandigarh, Aug 10 (IANS) With the re-opening of schools in Punjab, 20 students from two government schools in Ludhiana city on Tuesday tested positive for Covid-19.While 12 students are from Kailash Nagar, eight are from Basti Jodhewal.District Magistrate Varinder Kumar Sharma has ordered closure of both schools till August 24.Also, testing of all students and teachers in both the schools has been ordered.--IANSvg/skp/
CoronaVirus Updates

11 crew test Covid-19 positive

Wellington, Aug 9 (IANS) Eleven of the 21 crew onboard container ship Rio De La Plata, currently at sea off the coast of New Zealand's Tauranga, tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday.The Ministry of Health said in a statement that it is likely that at least some of the 11 crew are active cases of Covid-19 and further test results will help determine how many of the crew are likely to be historical cases and no longer infectious, the Xinhua news agency reported.Public Health staff took the test swabs in Tauranga from the crew as part of the requirements for entry for the vessel to Napier, the ship's next stop.All of the crew on board are reported to be well, with none reporting any symptoms.The ship is linked to a Covid-19 case in an Australian pilot who was onboard the vessel in July in Queensland and who later developed symptoms and then tested positive for Covid-19 nine days after being aboard the vessel. The Australian pilot is confirmed to have the Delta variant and has not been linked to any other Queensland cases.Initial concerns about the link with the Australian pilot resulted in loading of the vessel being temporarily halted on August 4 in Tauranga. An assessment was carried out before unloading was allowed to resume the following day.As an additional precautionary measure, 94 port workers who as part of their work, spent time on the vessel while it was in port, are now being contacted, provided with advice, tested and stood down until a negative result return. --IANSint/rs
CoronaVirus Updates

Haryana fixes Rs 299 for RT-PCR test

Chandigarh, Aug 6 (IANS) Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Friday said the government has asked all private hospitals and laboratories to charge Rs 299 for an RT-PCR test.He said since the onset of the pandemic, the state has been providing free Covid testing facilities at the government health facilities.To prevent the third wave, the minister said the government is laying focus on the five-fold strategy for an effective management of Coviid-19 i.e. test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence of appropriate behaviour.At the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Rajeev Arora said the state has 659 ventilators, including paediatric and neonatal. On the availability of oxygen, he said the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants have been set up in districts, especially in those with high incidence of Covid cases.Besides, liquid medical oxygen tanks are present in six places -- Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula, Hisar, Jind, and Rewari.--IANSvg/vd
CoronaVirus Updates

All Kerala students to undergo Covid tests in K'taka after 38 test positive

Hassan (Karnataka), Aug 6 (IANS) The Hassan district authorities in Karnataka are subjecting all students from Kerala to Covid-19 tests as 38 Kerala-returned nursing students tested positive for the infection till Friday.The authorities have sealed a PG hostel facility and quarantined 27 primary contacts.The 38 Kerala students had arrived in Karnataka to write nursing exams a week ago. Though they had come with Covid negative reports but the Hassan district authorities conducted Covid tests on the students.The authorities received the reports of 21 girl students testing positive on Thursday and 17 students' reports came on Friday. All students belong to the same college.The health officials immediately swung into action and sealed the Nisarga Paying Guest hostel. All the 27 primary contacts of 21 students who tested positive for Covid-19 have been quarantined.The authorities are now subjecting all students from Kerala to Covid tests. A large number of students had enrolled for nursing and other courses in Hassan city.Meanwhile, people staged a protest outside the residence of the Deputy Commissioner, R. Girish for non-availability of vaccines. The protestors maintained that they have been waiting for more than a week for the first dose of Covid vaccine.--IANSmka/khz/bg
CoronaVirus Updates

Wuhan to complete nucleic acid

Beijing, Aug 5 (IANS) Amid a resurgence of new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, authorities in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province where the pandemic originated in 2019, have planned to complete a new round of all-inclusive nucleic acid testing before Friday.Last year, Wuhan completed a comprehensive nucleic acid testing campaign, during which it tested nearly 10 million residents in 19 days, Xinhua news agency reported.It launched a new testing drive on Tuesday after new infections emerged among several migrant workers on Monday. Between Monday and Tuesday, Wuhan reported 12 locally transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight locally transmitted asymptomatic cases, all related to the cluster infections in Jiangsu province, the authorities said.The city has set up 2,820 sampling sites and mobilised over 18,000 medical workers and other staff members to work there, said Peng Houpeng, vice director of Wuhan's health commission, at a press conference on Wednesday.The method of pooled sampling will be adopted in medium- and low-risk areas to boost efficiency, while individual testing will be reserved for areas or groups of people with higher infection risks, according to Peng.As of Wednesday, approximately 2.5 million Wuhan residents had been sampled.Wuhan has also imposed close-off management on 56 residential complexes that are close to the new infections or home to their close contacts, said Peng Lili, vice director of the city's civil affairs bureau. --IANSksk/