AWARE and AWAKE

  India’s drug regulatory authority will seek data from US-based Gilead Sciences on the latest finding on the effectiveness of its antiviral drug remdesivir in Covid-19 patients, after the US drug regulator approved it as treatment for the disease. Remdesivir is the first drug to be cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating Covid-19. The formal approval came on Thursday. While the move indicates that the drug is safe and effective for people hospitalised with Covid-19,  India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) wants to assess the data before making a decision. “We will be writing to Gilead Sciences to understand the latest evidence on the effectiveness of the drug. We will then review and assess and take any further decision in this regard,” said a senior official of CDSCO. The antiviral drug, administered intravenously, is already under assessment in India, officials said, in the wake of new evidence by the World Health Organisation (WHO) ...

Air India will operate its flight to Wuhan on October 30, the first after the central Chinese city from where the coronavirus initially emerged in December was officially declared safe from the virus in June and all curbs were lifted. A Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flight would be operated from Delhi-Wuhan sector on October 30, the Indian Embassy here announced on Friday. This will be the sixth VBM flight by Air India to China to help Indians stranded in both the countries to travel back to their destinations. The Delhi-Wuhan flight was announced after the cancellation of October 23 flight between Delhi-Guangzhou. Those who are arriving from New Delhi has to undergo 14-day quarantine in the designated hotels.

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States on Thursday was the second highest on record, coming in just short of a midsummer peak as the spread of the novel coronavirus accelerates in nearly every region of the country. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all accelerating as cooler weather descends on much of the country. With 76,195 new cases on Thursday, the United States was approaching its one-day record high of 77,299 new cases on July 16. Only India has reported more cases in a single day: 97,894 on Sept. 17. U.S. deaths are also trending higher, with 916 fatalities reported on Thursday, a day after the country recorded over 1,200 new deaths for the first time since August. COVID-19 deaths are up 13% from last week, averaging 785 a day over the past seven days.

Government has set aside about Rs 50,000 crore ($7 billion) to vaccinate the world’s most populous nation after China against the coronavirus, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration estimates an all-in cost of about $6-$7 per person in the nation of 1.3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private. The money provisioned so far is for the current financial year ending March 31 and there will be  no shortage of further funds for this purpose, they added. Vaccine Math: India is said to estimate two injections per person at $2 a shot Another $2-$3 is said to be set aside per individual as infrastructure costs such as storage and transport Details based on recommendations of a working group, the people said A Finance Ministry spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached when tried on his mobile.