As schools in the United States are gearing up to open, anew study has come out stating that children are equally susceptible to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) but exhibit mild symptoms compared with adults. Though data is sparse on children, they do spread respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses far wider than previously thought.
Early reports did not find strong evidence of children as major contributors to SARS-CoV-2 spread owing to school closures ahead of the pandemic and no large-scale investigations of schools in community transmission had been conducted, said the researchers. Now that public health systems ponder to reopen schools and day cares, the new study on children’s transmission potential has sent alarm bells to public health officials in the US and elsewhere.
The study conducted between March 23 and April 27, 2020 on replication of SARS-CoV-2 in older children found similar levels of viral nucleic acid as adults, but significantly greater amounts of viral nucleic acid among those younger than 5 years. The SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed on nasopharyngeal swabs collected at various hospitals and clinics including drive-through testing sites at a pediatric tertiary medical center in Chicago, Illinois.
This cohort included all individuals aged younger than 1 month to 65 years who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 or those with symptoms suggestive of a COVID-19–compatible illness and/or high-risk exposures. In all, 145 patients with mild to moderate illness within 1 week of symptom onset were tested.
Divided in 3 groups — young children younger than 5 years, older children aged 5 to 17 years, and adults aged 18 to 65 years — researchers found young children had significantly equivalent or more viral nucleic acid in their upper respiratory tract compared with older children and adults. Some had even 100-fold greater amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract.
Thus, the study suggests that young children can potentially be important drivers of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the general population, and are more likely to transmit. “Behavioral habits of young children and close quarters in school and day care settings raise concern for SARS-CoV-2 amplification in this population as public health restrictions are eased,” wrote authors in their paper published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Now that India is bracing for relaxation of nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, economists and world renowned Indian brains had a discussion on almost all the aspects of Indian life from e-commerce to gold-buying spree to frugal mindset to sanitation consciousness.
Here are some takeaway points:
General Outlook
India seems to have suppressed the curve for long but not now with 1.6 million cases and more than 36,000 deaths so far. It looks like it might escalate further.
Possibility of W Curve – There is a good chance of re-occurrence of the virus, which could see a possibility of regular lockdowns. Businesses need to plan accordingly.
Capital inflow will look for countries that are less battered. Western economies are badly battered while countries like India, Indonesia, among others are not so battered.
Emotional and Economic backlash against China is expected. Already, countries and companies are working on strategy to pivot away from China as part of their supply chains. Japan has announced packages for it’s companies bringing back manufacturing home. Businesses need to keep this in mind and work accordingly.
Discretionary Spending
For individuals, health and safety will become No.1 on their agenda from the 3rd of 4th place. There will be more spending on this and reduction in other discretionary spending.
The ticket size of spending will drop for a while. People will spend on cheaper goods than on expensive goods, or delay spending for a while.
Extreme acceleration in digital economy — home education, home entertainment, home fitness, etc
Loyalty shock: People will be less loyal towards brands as other aspects will take over. People will switch brands faster due to various other concerns like safety.
General Trust deficit among stakeholders like vendors, customers, employees, borrowers, banks, etc. visible. Banks will have trust deficit with borrowers, companies will have trust deficit with suppliers, and it goes on.
Liquidity and P&L
Segregate Good Costs and Bad Costs
Good costs (Eg. Digitization, tech costs, digital marketing, best employees, etc) need to be insulated and protected
Bad Costs (Eg. Fancy office, unnecessary spending, bad performers, traditional working methods) need to be ruthlessly eliminated. Companies will not entertain or be emotional about non-core businesses.
Be Frugal – Not necessary to have fancy office, fancy cars, excess employee strength, etc. Companies tend to remove all the flab and be lean.
Maintain Good behaviour – Have frank and open conversation with all stakeholders like suppliers, employees, etc and try to find the middle ground, so that the burden can be shared justly.
Be Future Ready – In this crisis, there will be winners and there will be losers. Those who re-orient their strategy will be winners.
Govt Stimulus
Economy was in poor shape even before Covid. The govt has little leeway to provide large stimulus.
Govt earns about $60-70 billion a week from taxes. Imagine what a hit a 5-week lockdown will have. Size of Indian economy is about $3 Trillion. In some scenarios, it is predicted that Govt could take a hit of nearly $1 Trillion.
Inequality has already sharpened. The gap between rich and poor has further increased. Govt needs to concentrate on mass health and mass welfare. If not, 200 million people could sink into poverty.
Govt must explore printing currency (Quantitative easing), but there are limitations here. It has side effects like inflation. Rich countries have more leeway for such quantitative easing.
Govt will focus on more capital from outside.
Result of backlash against China
Internationally, and domestically there is an emotional and economic backlash against China due to border clashes recently.
Businesses with supply chains passing through China will need to insulate themselves and build alternatives.
India and Indian businesses need to try to become the contract manufacturer of the world, just like China is. India needs to make use of this opportunity.
All big wealth funds and sovereign funds will be awash with liquidity. This liquidity needs to be attracted to India.
In every sector, there are good and bad companies. Management has to invest correctly in manufacturing and modern tech, be honest and fair to all stakeholders, etc., Those companies with good management and displaying good behaviour will come out victorious.
Export Business
Indian exporters need to build trust. They need to live up to promises made. They need to deliver on time and deliver the promised quality. They shouldn’t make incorrect promises just to get more business.
Bangladesh export business has built trust and a good reputation. Despite a chequered past (low quality, human rights issues, etc) they have managed to overcome and are winning.
Wholesale, Retail, etc.
More people will prefer to buy from retail stores where there is perception of safety (Eg. Sanitation, cleanliness, crowds, etc). They will move away from malls and mega markets. Many will move towards online stores. Wholesale suppliers also need to concentrate on such retailers.
Customers also need to be ring-fenced.
A high end restaurant in Delhi is giving 40% of bill value as a gift coupon to be used anytime up to December 2020.
Car companies are giving buy back offers, in case the customer loses his job in the next one year.
Pricing needs to be re-approached. People are looking for cheaper prices or cheaper good.
Brick & Mortar in Discretionary Spends
Cinemas could take a big hit in the near future. Entertainment could move to home.
Because of this, cafes and restaurants might see some increase in business. Many chains are implementing measures like social distancing like lesser furniture, etc, to build confidence to consumers.
Smaller retailers need to send a message of safety. Eg: Have sanitisers, put up notice of no Covid positive employee found in the store, maintain social distancing, etc.
Since travel and tourism will take a big hit, connected purchases will also shift. Purchases that happened abroad will happen at home. (Eg. Electronics, Luxury goods and apparel, etc.,). But travel related purchases will drop.
Real Estate
Indian real estate economy is sitting on a huge inventory with a huge cost-of-carry
The industry is highly leveraged with low margins.
Unsold inventory is considered an appreciating asset, but might turn out to be a flawed view.
Market was already overdue for a huge reset, which will be accelerated by the pandemic.
Also, the sharing and co-working space could be hit as more businesses try to have their own smaller spaces and more WFH employees.
Jewellery
Gold-as-an-asset could see appreciation.
Jewelry, as a discretionary spend, will take a hit.
The Indian wedding industry will take a hit, as social distancing, cost consciousness, travel avoidance, etc., will prevent fat weddings, destination weddings, etc. This will hit all connected industries. (Eg. Silk, partywear, etc)
Financial Markets
There will be value destruction and value creation in different companies in the same sector.
High Debt low margin companies will find it difficult. (indicates risky or unscrupulous management)
High Debt high margin companies could be rewarded, but caution needs to be exercised. (may indicate sharp or dynamic management)
No debt high margin companies are best rewarded now.
Know more about the CEO and management and their actions and activities. (Eg: 3 branches of Starbucks were kept open in India for last few days. The CEO of Starbucks India sat in the Fort (Mumbai) branch throughout the day to give his employees confidence and motivation).
New tech unicorns will be born. Those involved in cyber security, cloud services, online education services, etc.
Forex Markets
No doomsday scenario (i.e. Dollar will become 90 rupees etc). Such scenarios don’t seem realistic
Govt should be buying as much oil as possible, as such prices may never be seen in the future of oil.
As the western economies are more battered and Indian economy too faces same fate, depending on the spread of the disease in India.
Watch out for sharp spikes in the market. Better to avoid the spikes.
Outlook for near future
Large Companies survive.
Huge concern seen for employees. Companies are paying the employees even when closed.
HUL decided not to cut a single rupee for their suppliers, service providers, etc. No haircuts.
Safety of employees and customers is becoming a major point of focus.
This is possible because they have reserves of funds, etc that have been built up over the years.
Medium and Small businesses
They have to work with thin capital reserves. Excess capital is taken out of the business and applied into personal assets.
Small businesses take out the surplus and purchase personal assets instead of re-investing in the business. There are various factors and motivations here.
Because of this, they are unable to meet the cash expenses of even the next month.
A high end restaurant chain in Delhi (with Rs.40 crore annual turnover) is unable to pay the salaries of the current month as it has no liquid reserve. Owner has invested in personal assets like house in London, etc.
Medium and Small business need to have a look at how they can build some business reserves to endure such disruptions.
‘Force Majeure’ in Contracts
Should force majeure clauses be triggerd in various contracts like rent, supply, etc? It will lead to litigation, but there is no point in getting into litigation now.
All parties have been affected by the crisis. The tenants, the landlords, the lenders/financiers, etc.
Parties need to sit across the table and find a common ground and mutually decide upon the costs, rentals, etc. Burden has to be shared.
Work From Home Scenario
It is possible for lot of employees to not visit the office and still be productive.
In one corporate office, it is found that it is enough that only 30% staff stay in the office. Others can be connected from homes. This leads to lesser commute expense, stress of the commute, time wasted, etc.,
Parents can take care of children more effectively while Working From Home. There can be dark hours when no calls will be made.
Optimism
As per a McKinsey survey of entrepreneurs released in May, 53% of Indian entrepreneurs are optimistic, while only 25% of Japanese entrepreneurs are optimistic. Now it’s the equally bad everywhere.
A team of researchers from Japan have brought some sediment samples from the seafloor to study the past climate. Small life forms such as microbes trapped in the sediments too were revived too given the right food and right lab conditions and to the surprise of the researchers, they are hungry and ready to multiply aven after remaining dormant for over 100 years.
In a new study published in Nature Communications, the team of Japanese researchers said they gathered the ancient sediment samples 10 years ago during an expedition to the South Pacific Gyre, where the lowest productivity and fewest nutrients are available to fuel the marine food web. On the seafloor, there are layers of sediment consisting of marine snow or organic debris sourced from the sea surface, dust, and particles carried by the wind and ocean currents. These microbes get trapped in this sediment.
Not a lifeless zone
“Our main question was whether life could exist in such a nutrient-limited environment or if this was a lifeless zone,” said the paper’s lead author Yuki Morono, senior scientist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). “And we wanted to know how long the microbes could sustain their life in a near-absence of food.”
The research drillship JOIDES Resolution drilled numerous sediment cores 100 meters below the seafloor and nearly 6,000 meters below the ocean’s surface. They found that oxygen was present in all of the cores, suggesting that if sediment accumulates slowly on the seafloor at a rate of no more than a meter or two every million years, oxygen will penetrate all the way from the seafloor to the basement.
Such conditions give room for aerobic microorganisms which require oxygen to live to survive for geological time scales of millions of years.
The team, led by Morono, incubated the samples to coax their microbes to grow and results showed that rather than being fossilized remains of life, the microbes in the sediment had survived, and were capable of growing and dividing.
Capable of reviving, growing and dividing
Morono was taken aback by the results in the lab. “At first I was skeptical, but we found that up to 99.1% of the microbes in sediment deposited 101.5 million years ago were still alive and were ready to eat,” he said.
With the newly developed ability to grow, manipulate and characterize ancient microorganisms, the research team is looking forward to applying a similar approach to other questions about the geological past as life for microbes in the subseafloor is very slow compared to life above it, and so the evolutionary speed of these microbes will be slower.
“We want to understand how or if these ancient microbes evolved,” said Morono. “This study shows that the subseafloor is an excellent location to explore the limits of life on Earth.”
Amazon Prime Video’s Kannada film French Biriyani recently saw a release on the 24 July 2020 on the platform of Amazon Prime Video. The film stars Danish Sait and has received immense commendations from the audience for the laugh riot it is! The comedy-drama film is sure to leave you with burst of giggles.
“It’s a good feeling that the film has been appreciated and admired”, says Danish Sait about his film ‘French Biriyani’.
Talking about how does he feel about the success of French Biriyani, Danish Sait replied, “I feel very happy and I am glad that our promise to make people laugh has been delivered. I feel like a political party who lives up to the promise. it’s a good feeling that the film has been appreciated and admired. ”
In the Midst of Coronavirus
The actor said further added “In the midst of the pandemic, what can we do except for making people laugh and I am glad that we managed to do that! I am also very honest about the fact that the good will not be taken to the head and I am gonna wake up the next day and work harder.”
When asked if the pressure on the comedian playing a comic role is a lot more than a pressure on an actor playing a comic role, Danish Sait said, “To be honest with you it will be really unfair for one person to take the entire film’s pressure as a film is the sum of its total parts.”
The actor further added, “The only person who really has pressure, whether it is an actor playing a comic role or a comedian playing a comic role, is the director. Yes, when you do comedy, the pressure becomes a bit higher but I do realize with all reviews that I have read in general I believe that people have managed to separate the two.”
Danish continued: “They see a film is a film, the shows that you do on stage are separate and your content is separate. As long as you enjoy what you do, I think the real pressure is on the director and not the actors because then you’re just there in the front. The moment I put pressure on myself I think I am taking myself too seriously and I am not that guy.”
The film is directed by Pannaga Bharana and is produced by Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar and Gurudath A Talwar under the banner of PRK productions. Make sure that you grab a bowl of popcorn and watch giggle-inducing film!
India’s Union Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’ has unveiled the National Education Policy 2020 aimed at bringing transformational reforms in school and higher education systems in the country.
Speaking at media briefing in New Delhi Wednesday, after Cabinet gave its approval to the New Education Policy 2020, the HRD Minister said that the NEP was drawn up after consultation and discussion process. He said 2.25 lakh suggestions have been received after the draft was placed in public domain for consultations.
Nishank said that this National Education Policy 2020 will bring transformational reforms in both school and higher education sectors. He said that NEP2020 will ensure universal access to high-quality Early Childhood Care & Education across India. “We will focus on developing social capacities, sensitivity, good behaviour, ethics, teamwork and cooperation among children through a joyful pedagogy,” he added.
The new NEP will replace 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986. MoS for HRD Ministry Sanay Dhotre said that the NEP 2020 is most comprehensive, radical and futuristic and does not recognise any barrier in bringing quality and outcome-based education to each and everyone. It now includes children during their most foundational years, that is 3-5 years, for their care and education.
Critical thinking, experiential and application-based learning, flexibility in learning, focus on life skills, multidisciplinary, and continuous review are some of the salient features of this policy, he noted. Bringing back 2 crore out-of-school and drop-out children and universalisation of school education from 3 years onwards — reflect commitment to the philosophy of ‘no one to be left behind’, he said.
Here are the Highlights of NEP 2020:
1. 10+2 board structure will be dropped
2. New school structure will be 5+3+3+4
3. Upto 5 pre school, 6 to 8 Mid School, 8 to 11 High School , 12 onwards Graduation
4. Any Degree will be 4 years
5. 6th std onwards vocational courses available
6. From 8th to 11, students can choose subjects
7. All graduation course will have major and minor. A science student majoring in Physics can choose Music as minor.
8. All higher education will be governed by only one authority
9. UGC and AICTE (technical and MBA education) will be merged
10. All University, government, private, Open, Deemed, Vocational institutions will have same grading system and rules.
11. New Teacher Training board will be setup for all kinds of teachers, no state can change
12. Same level of Accreditation to any collage. Based on rating, colleges get autonomous rights and funds
13. New learning program for parents to teach children up to 3 years at home and for pre-school 3 to 6
14. Multiple entry and exit from any course
15. Credit system for graduation for each year. If a student takes break, he can come back again to complete course
16. All school exams will be semester wise twice a year
17. The syllabus will be reduced to core knowledge of any subject
18. More focus on student’s practical and application knowledge
19. For any graduation course, if student completes only one year he will get a basic certificate, if he completes two years, then he will get Diploma certificate and if he completes full course, then he will get degree certificate. No year loss for any student.
20. All the graduation courses in Universities will be governed by single authority.
The Mega Million Lottery Winning numbers for the draw held at 11 p.m. ET are — 17,20,27,31,34, and Gold Ball 19, with megaplier at 4X. The prize amount for Tuesday’s lottery is $20 Million and the cash option is for $16.2 Million but there is no winner of these jackpot numbers pushing the amount to 422 million for the next draw on Friday, July 31, 2020.
Mega Millions lottery game holds its draw every Tuesday and Friday. The last game on Friday, July 24, 2020, had the jackpot prize of Mega Millions lottery at $124 Million and the cash option was for $100.8 Million. It was won in New Jersey and the ticket was sold in Bayonne. So far, the state of New jersy won two jackpots this year.
Mega Millions lottery as mentioned earlier was drawn on Friday, July 24, 2020 and the winning numbers were 8, 33, 39, 54, 58, besides the Mega Ball number 17. The jackpot prize amount was $124 Million and the cash option is $100.8 Million. Prior to it, on June 9, 2020, a jackpot of $414 million ($319.9 million cash) was won by an anonymous player in Glendale, Ariz, and on February 11, 2020, a jackpot of $202 million ($142.6 million cash) was won for a ticket sold in Edison, N.J.
How to play Mega Millions game?
If you are interested in playing the Mega Millions lottery you need to purchase a ticket from a licensed lottery retailer. Ticket sales deadlines vary according to jurisdiction, usually one or two hours before the draw. After purchasing the lottery, you need to choose five numbers from one to 70 for the white balls and then you need to choose one number between 1 and 25 for the gold Mega Ball. Players have the option of choosing the number themselves or the lottery terminal will select them randomly for them.
Cost of the Mega Millions Lottery ticket
The price of the Mega Millions ticket is $2 per play. You can add the Megaplier to the Mega Millions lottery ticket by paying an additional $1. The Megaplier number is randomly selected just before the draw and it will range from X2, X3, X4, or X5. If a player wins a prize using the Megaplier their prize will be multiplied based on this configuration. The Megaplier number is chosen from a pool of 15 balls — 5 of them marked with X2, six with X3, while 3 of them with X4, and just 1 will have X5.
Vidya Balan has spoken about her character in Shakuntala Devi as one that would remain chirpy and happy forever. Shakuntala Devi is one of the most anticipated releases set for July 31 and it showcases the life of the ‘Human Computer’ Shakuntala Devi who was a world class educator and a brilliant mathematician.
Essaying the role of Shakuntala Devi is none other than Vidya Balan and the film is just a few days away from its release. In a recent interview, talking about how her character in Shakuntala Devi is so chirpy and happy as seen in the trailer, Vidya shared, “Shakuntala Devi loved to play dress up and lived life to her fullest. She kept her hair black till the very end and also loved applying bright lipsticks, red lipsticks.”
She also shared, “We’ve showcased her life from 20’s to 60’s which are like 5 stages. So in every stage the hair makeup costume change which built up alot about the character.”
For Vidya, the experience of portraying the role of a genius who was as lively as Shakuntala Devi was fascinating and it was one if the best characters the actress has played. Apart from Vidya Balan, the film also stars Jisshu Sen Gupta, Sanya Malhotra and Amit Sadh in pivotal roles.
Vidya Balan in Shakuntala Devi promo
The upcoming film will stream on Amazon Prime Video and is directed by Anu Menon. Shakuntala Devi is produced by Sony Pictures Network Productions and Vikram Malhotra and will start streaming on the 31st of July 2020.
Shakuntala Devi demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the University of Mysore, astonishing people just at the age of six! The audience will witness the magic of math happen on Amazon Prime Video as the biographical drama film ‘Shakuntala Devi’ will see a release on the 31st of July.
An astounding fact about Shakuntala Devi is that she was much ahead of her years and just at the age of six she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the University of Mysore without any formal education. The age of six is when most children are in pre-school but Shakuntala was already demonstrating her staggering arithmetic abilities at a university!
Shakuntala Devi was known as ‘the human-computer’ for her awe-striking abilities to perform complex mathematical calculations quickly and once she had even pointed out a mistake made by a computer which is how she attained that name! The audience looks forward to witnessing the highs and lows of Shakuntala Devi’s life on the screens.
The upcoming film ‘Shakuntala Devi’ is directed by Anu Menon and produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions and Vikram Malhotra. The film also stars Jisshu Sengupta, Sanya Malhotra, and Amit Sadh in prominent roles. You can watch the film on Amazon Prime Video on the 31st of July.
Fox Star Hindi’s upcoming film Lootcase has been making a lot of buzz ever since the trailer was released. As the film nears its release, the makers have been sharing hilarious promos with the most recent one being Gajraj Rao’s character MLA Patil as Uday Bhai from the film ‘Welcome.’
Gajraj Rao shared the video on his social media with a tweaked version of Nana Patekar’s famous dialog from the film and said, “Just like Uday bhai, MLA Patil ke paas bhagwaan ka diya hua sab kuch hai – daulat hai, shohrat hai, izzat hai. Par suitcase?
Watch #Lootcase on @DisneyplusHSVIP from July 31 to find out! @DailyWelcomePic”
Just like Uday bhai, MLA Patil ke paas bhagwaan ka diya hua sab kuch hai – daulat hai, shohrat hai, izzat hai. Par suitcase?
Lootcase has a stellar star cast of Kunal Kemmu, Rasika Dugal, Gajraj Rao, Vijay Raaz, and Ranvir Shorey. As Lootcase nears its release, the excitement for the Kunal Kemmu starrer is getting higher and to ensure the same, the makers have been releasing dialog promos and songs from the film.
The most recent dialog promo shows Vijay Raaz talking to his goons about how to flush out someone by using an example that his subordinates don’t understand. Following which he asks them if they subscribed to Nat Geo or not.
Fox star shared the promo on their social media with the caption, “Yeh Junglee Don kaunsi Bhaasha bol raha hai? Lagta hai Nat Geo ka subscription lena hi hoga! See the Youtube bit here:
The story revolves around Nandan Kumar, a middle class family man who finds a suitcase with ?10 Crores in a lonely desolate market on his way back from his night shift. However, the dark past of the suitcase catches up and what happens next— Does he fight or take the survival flight?
Get ready to laugh out loud with this one on July 31 on Disney+ Hotstar
After screening 12,000 drugs from the library of collections ReFRAME, scientists have isolated 21 drugs for their antiviral activity as effective in providing treatment to Covid-19 patients depending upon dosage and other modifications. The list includes astemizole for allergies and clofazamine for leprosy, and remdesivir, which are already approved by the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A Nature study authored by a global team of scientists led by Sumit Chanda, professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, has identified these existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, which causes coronavirus or COVID-19.
The scientists analyzed 12,000 known drugs for their ability to block the replication of SARS-CoV-2, and reported 100 molecules with confirmed antiviral activity in tests and found 21 of these drugs to be effective at concentrations that could be safely given to patients. Moreover, four of these compounds were found to work synergistically with remdesivir, which is now a standard-of-care treatment for COVID-19 patients.
Extensive testing
“Remdesivir has proven successful at shortening the recovery time for patients in the hospital, but the drug doesn’t work for everyone who receives it. That’s not good enough,” says Chanda. “As infection rates continue to rise in America and around the world, the urgency remains to find affordable, effective, and readily available drugs that can complement the use of remdesivir, as well as drugs that could be given prophylactically or at the first sign of infection on an outpatient basis.”
The team conducted extensive testing and validation to evaluate the drugs on human lung biopsies of Covid-19 patients and also evaluated the drugs for synergies with remdesivir, besides monitoring dose-response relationship between the drugs and antiviral activity. Here’s the full list of 21 drugs:
Of the 21 drugs,the scientists found:
13 have previously entered clinical trials and are found effective at concentrations, or doses, that could potentially be safe for COVID-19 patients.
Two are already FDA approved — astemizole (allergies), clofazamine (leprosy), while remdesivir has received Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA.
Four worked synergistically with remdesivir, including the chloroquine derivative hanfangchin A (tetrandrine), an antimalarial drug that is into Phase 3 clinical trials.
What’s Next?
The researchers are currently testing all 21 compounds in small animal models and lung organoids that mimic human tissue. Once these studies are favorable, the team hopes to approach the FDA for more clinical trials to test these drugs for COVID-19 patients.
The drugs were identified after screening of more than 12,000 drugs from the ReFRAME drug repurposing collection–the most comprehensive drug repurposing collection of compounds that have been approved by the FDA for other diseases.
A diminutive bird-like skull, exquisitely preserved in amber for almost 100 million years, did not belong to the smallest dinosaur ever discovered. It was probably a lizard. The skull was believed to offer a whole new lineage of birds, but the paper was retracted on Monday.
The story on tiny dinosaur, its skull measuring only 7.1mm long, smaller than the bee hummingbird, was reported by Prof Jingmai O’Connor and his team members referred to the specimen as “Teenie Weenie”.
When questioned whether it was a bird or a dinosaur, Prof O’Connor then told media that the lines were extremely blurry. “We think it’s a bird – the skull has a shape that only occurs in birds and some dinosaurs. However there are no skull characteristics that define birds, therefore it could be a dinosaur or even something else,” she said. “It’s the weirdest fossil I’ve ever been lucky enough to study.”
Co-author Dr Luis Chiappe, from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said: “It’s lucky this tiny creature was preserved in amber, as such small, fragile animals aren’t common in the fossil record.”
Retracted Now
New findings revealed that it did not belong to the smallest dinosaur ever discovered. “I agree we were wrong and an unpublished specimen will eventually prove it,” palaeontologist and study author Jingmai O’Connor told Retraction Watch, though she disagreed with the choice to retract the paper. New evidence suggests that the specimen, trapped in amber in what is now Myanmar nearly 100 million years ago, might actually be a lizard.
The authors of the paper, published in Nature on 11 March, say that their original description of the fossil — a bird-like skull less than 2 centimetres long, its mouth packed with dozens of teeth — is still accurate but its classification as a dinosaur is incorrect.
This fossil trapped in amber was thought to be a dinosaur but is likely a lizard.Credit: Lida Xing
The new data “do definitively say that we were wrong”, says O’Connor, a palaeontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, who co-led the now-retracted study.
Andrea Cau, a vertebrate palaeontologist in Parma, Italy, said the fossil has several characteristics typical of lizards that have never before been seen in a bird-like fossil from that era. “The idea that it was instead a lizard could not be excluded,” said Cau who is not surprised by the retraction, and notes that reclassifications, especially of incomplete fossil specimens from unknown groups, are not uncommon in the field.
Although the fossil is no longer thought to be the smallest-known dinosaur, O’Connor and Cau both believe that it is still compelling because of its unusual combination of features. “The specimen is still very interesting to science,” O’Connor said.
A massive haul of stone tools discovered in a cave in Mexico provide evidence that people occupied the area more than 30,000 years ago, suggesting that humans arrived in North America at least 15,000 years earlier than had been previously thought. The discovery is backed up by a separate statistical analysis incorporating data from sites in North America and Siberia.
But some researchers are not convinced. They question the age of the tools, and whether the artefacts are tools or rather created by natural processes. Data from caves are “notoriously troublesome” to interpret, says archaeologist François Lanoë from the University of Arizona in Tucson.
First Humans in America
The first humans in the Americas came from East Asia, but when the date of their arrival remains still debatable. Some researchers suggest that it could have been as early as 130,000 years ago, but lacking the archaeological evidence, this theory is disputed. Many stone artefacts are so simple that sceptics say they were probably produced by natural geological processes and not by humans.
The mainstream consensus is that the people ff the Americas began about 15,000 or 16,000 years ago — based on genetic evidence and artefacts found at sites including the 14,000-year-old Monte Verde II in Chile. The latest discoveries, published on 22 July in Nature, question that consensus.
New evidence from Chiquihuite Cave in Mexico joins other sites across the Americas where scientists have found signs of early human occupation (kyr, a thousand years ago) / Nature
Since 2012, a team led by Ciprian Ardelean at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas in Mexico has been excavating Chiquihuite Cave in Astillero Mountains. The researchers found 2,000 stone tools, 239 of which were embedded in layers of gravel that have been carbon dated to between 25,000 and 32,000 years old.
Caves Occasional Camps
There are some tools that Ardelean thinks suggest the site could have been visited only occasionally, perhaps as a refuge every few decades, during severe winters. At the height of the last ice age, 26,000 years ago, North America would have been a dangerous place. “There must have been horrible storms, hail, snow,” he says. He adds that the Chiquihuite Cave is well insulated and could have provided shelter to any humans who were around to witness the blizzards.
Other controversial studies claim that humans reached Americas 100,000 years earlier than thought but the analysis was disputed pointing out that it purposely omitted information from the most controversial sites, to make its case stronger. If there were people in North America so early, it’s unclear what happened to them.
“There continues to be no convincing genetic evidence of a pre-15,000-years-ago human presence in the Americas,” says geneticist David Reich at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts
However, Ardelean says there is a simple reason why genetic studies suggest that humans spread across the Americas only relatively recently, and early groups such as the one he thinks was present at Chiquihuite Cave didn’t survive to contribute to modern gene pools. “I definitely advocate for the idea of lost groups,” he says.
Scientists report two new cryo-EM structures representing the pre-fusion and post-fusion conformations of the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein in coronavirus that is responsible for host cell entry and the spread of infection in human body.
These reconstructions – derived from a full-length, fully wild-type form of the S protein – demonstrate critical differences from previous cryo-EM studies that used engineered, stabilized versions of the S protein, said researchers.
Based on their findings, the authors caution that current vaccine strategies informed by structures of the engineered S protein could be relying on limited and even misleading information about the protein’s natural state.
They say it’s possible that vaccine strategies that employ full-length sequences of the S protein or whole inactivated SARS-CoV-2 (such as PiCoVacc), could spontaneously form the S protein’s postfusion structure, found here to possess several features that could distract the patient’s immune system.
Therefore, these vaccine strategies may require further evaluation, the authors say. Using cryo-EM on full-length SARS-CoV-2 samples in their natural state, Yongfei Cai and colleagues imaged the pre-fusion S protein configuration, a semi-stable state when the protein is poised to fuse with host cell membranes, and the post-fusion conformational configuration, a stable, rigid state achieved when the S protein has gone through a conformational change that would promote viral fusion with a host cell membrane.
They found their prefusion structure differed from previously described prefusion conformations in several ways, including the presence of previously unobserved disulfide bonds. The protein’s spontaneous transition from the prefusion state to the postfusion state occurred independently of whether the spike had interacted with host cell membranes, the researchers also found.
The postfusion structure was strategically “decorated” by N-linked glycans, forming spikes that might play protective roles against host immune responses, such as by inducing nonneutralizing antibody responses or shielding more vulnerable regions of the S protein. In future work, the researchers hope to image a higher-resolution structure of an intact S protein, and also aim to reconstruct regions where host cell membrane fusion occurs.
Blue holes, or underwater sinkholes similar to sink holes on land, are scattered across Florida’s Gulf continental shelf though vary in size, shape and depth, but most are rich in ecological diversity with plants and animals. NOAA-supported project has come out with new findings of one such blue hole called Amberjack Hole.
Last year, in May and September, a team of scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Atlantic University/Harbor Branch, Georgia Institute of Technology and the U.S. Geological Society, with support from the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, explored one blue hole, dubbed “Amberjack Hole,” approximately 30 miles off west of Sarasota shore.
They deployed divers and a “benthic lander” with scientific instruments collectively weighing more than 270 kilograms (600 pounds into Amberjack Hole, whose bottom extends deeper than 107 meters (350 feet). The team documented life around the rim of the hole and carbon, nutrients, and microscopic life throughout the hole and in its bottom sediments.
The benthic lander was deployed to the bottom of Amberjack Hole to collect data and samples for longer periods than divers can, right where the bottom water meets the sediment. Image courtesy of Mote Marine Laboratory
What Can We Learn?
From this “mission,” scientists are hoping to learn whether these submersed sinkholes are connected to Florida’s groundwater or if there is groundwater intrusion into the Gulf of Mexico. If a particular blue hole is secreting nutrients and thus affecting an area’s primary production or whether such microenvironments harbor unique or new species of microbes. If the Amberjack site should become a protected area or not is the next on agenda.
The rim of Amberjack Hole is 34 meters (113 feet) from the surface, and the rest of the hole extends down another 72+ meters (237 feet)! In May 2019, scientific divers traveled to the bottom of Amberjack Hole and deployed a special benthic lander created for this project to s depth where bottom water meets the sediment.
In September, the team returned with 17 water samples from just outside the hole down to the bottom and collected 4 sediment cores at the bottom. Remarkably, they also discovered two dead but intact smalltooth sawfish, Pristis pectinata, an endangered species, at the bottom of the hole. One of the animals was subsequently recovered to undergo a necropsy.
The deceased sawfish were intact enough to be collected for research, and Mote scientists quickly reported the discovery to NOAA and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and obtained the required permit for collection of one of the sawfish, a male measuring an impressive 12 feet long. Video courtesy of Mote Marine Laboratory.
A diver’s view looking up to the opening of Amberjack Hole. Image courtesy of Mote Marine Laboratory
Water sampled inside the hole was found to contain naturally occurring isotopes of radium and radon, two markers of groundwater, suggesting that blue holes are not isolated from groundwater and could provide insights into potential groundwater connection between the Floridan Aquifer and the Gulf of Mexico.
Further, in August 2020 and May 2021 a second deeper site, Green Banana, will be explored using the same techniques developed for the Amberjack Hole. The first trip is scheduled for August 2020, and work will continue in 2021.
The global beverages giant Coca-Cola on Tuesday reported second quarter 2020 results that showed 33% decline in its earnings, though the company is optimistic on strategic actions to emerge stronger from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Coca-Cola system remained agile in the second quarter, with a focus on maintaining a safe
environment for employees while also providing necessary products and services to consumers, customers and communities during this unprecedented time, said the company.
“I’m proud of the people of the Coca-Cola system as we continue to adjust and accelerate our strategies in this fastchanging landscape,” said James Quincey, chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company. “We believe the second quarter will prove to be the most challenging of the year; however, we still have work to do as we drive our pursuit of ‘Beverages for Life’ and meet evolving consumer needs.”
Highlights of Quarterly Performance
• Revenues: Net revenues declined 28% to $7.2 billion. Organic revenues (non-GAAP) declined 26%. Revenue performance included a 22% decline in concentrate sales and a 4% decline in price/mix. The revenue declines were primarily driven by pressure in away-from-home channels, which represent approximately half of the company’s revenues.
• Margin: Operating margin, which included items impacting comparability, was 27.7% versus 29.9% in the prior year, while comparable operating margin (non-GAAP) was 30.0% versus 30.3% in the prior year. Operating margin contraction was primarily driven by top-line pressure and currency headwinds, partially offset by effective cost management.
• Earnings per share: EPS declined 32% to $0.41, and comparable EPS (non-GAAP) declined 33% to $0.42.
• Market share: The company lost value share in total nonalcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverages as an underlying share gain was more than offset by negative channel mix due to pressure in away-from-home channels, where the company has a strong share position.
• Cash flow: Year-to-date cash from operations was $2.8 billion, down 38%. Free cash flow (non-GAAP) was $2.3 billion, down 40%.
Business Environment
Since the company’s last earnings update in April, global unit case volume trends have improved sequentially, from a decline of approximately 25% in April to a decline of approximately 10% in June. Unit case volume for July month-to date was down mid single digits globally. Performance has been driven by improving trends in away-from-home channels, along with sustained, elevated sales in at-home channels.
While the company believes the second quarter will be the most severely impacted quarter of the year, given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and levels of lockdown, the ultimate impact on full year 2020 results is unknown. The company’s balance sheet remains strong, and the company is confident in its liquidity position as it continues to navigate through the crisis.
Despite the high degree of uncertainty, the company said it is committed to emerging stronger by gaining share and consumers, maintaining strong system economics, strengthening its reputation with stakeholders and positioning the organization to win in the new reality.
CSR Activities
The Coca-Cola Foundation has partnered with the world’s largest humanitarian network,
the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and supported programs in more than 60 countries, reaching an estimated 7.5 million people impacted by the pandemic.
In the first original ad during the pandemic for brand Coca-Cola, the company offered “The Great Meal” that features 13 real households in eight countries preparing and sharing home-cooked meals over an ice-cold Coca-Cola, bringing to life the comfort and authenticity of the brand’s connection to food.
However, the company has paused social media activity for July to review policies, including its own, and to hold partners to a higher level of accountability and transparency. The company has committed to spend an incremental $500 million with Black-owned suppliers over the next five years in the United States.
In support of social justice, the Coca-Cola Foundation has contributed $4 million to several initiatives and, to date, the company has contributed an additional $1.3 million through brands Coca-Cola and Sprite.
As the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford university and AstraZeneca enters the third phase of the trials, Serum Institute of India (SII) is geared up to procure a licence from the Indian regulator to start clinical trials in the country in a week’s time.
Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, and a partner in the Oxford vaccine project has already been chosen by AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it is ready. “The trials have shown promising results and we are extremely happy about it. As soon as they grant us permission, we will begin with the trials for the vaccine in India,” said Serum Institute’s CEO Adar Poonawalla. “In addition, we will soon start manufacturing the vaccine in large volumes.”
The Pune-based Serum Institute of India has been mandated to produce at least a billion doses of the vaccine and the production may start before the final nod as the volume is too large and required urgently in view of no other vaccine showing promising results as Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine owing to its o serious side effects and elicited antibody and T-cell immune responses.
WHO Cautious
The trial results published in The Lancet medical journal, showed that it was tested on 1,077 healthy adults aged 18-55 years with no history of COVID-19. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has welcomed progress made in developing vaccines but warned there was still much work to be done. While the Oxford vaccine undergoes final stage trial in Brazil, other vaccines are making inroads in different stages of trial.
Apart from Oxford vaccine, India has already started Covaxin, indigenously developed vaccine for COVID-19, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR and the National Institute of Virology, has been given the nod for human clinical trials from the Drugs Controller General of India.
As per the deal, Serum Institute of India is hoping to produce the first 400 million doses before the end of 2020.
Finally, a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and licensed to the multinational pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca has emerged as the favourite of World Health Organization scientists out of about 23 vaccines in their Phase III trial, after reporting success and safety in the first two phases.
For India, this vaccine is important as AstraZeneca, among others, had entered a deal with Pune-based Serum Institute of India to supply one billion doses for low-and-middle-Income countries, with first 400 million to be produced before the end of 2020. Its other global facilities will produce 300 million doses for the US.
Between April 23-May 21, Oxford University with AstraZeneca conducted human trials of the vaccine – where 1,077 volunteers were given the AZD1222 shot and all of them developed protective neutralizing antibodies as well as T-cells (T lymphocytes) which multiplied to attack any pathogen inside the human system. The participants were aged between 18 and 55 and split roughly 50-50 between male and female. Ninety-one percent of them were white, while roughly 5% were Asian, and fewer than 1% were Black.
While AZD1222 enters the next phase III of the clinical trials, the results published in The Lancet medical journal, show that the Covid-19 vaccine prompted no serious side effects among the people who received two doses so far, which has promted the WHO Chief Scientist Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s health emergencies chief to say: “We now need to move into larger scale, real-world trials, but it is good to see more data, more products moving in to this very important phase of vaccine discovery.” See the video below from 19:30 for WHO remarks on Oxford vaccine:
The next stage — Phase III — trial will be conducted in the US on 30,000 patients, besides those “in low-to-middle income countries including Brazil and South Africa which are already underway,” the university has said in a release.
Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, had earlier informed that 8,000 volunteers were enrolled for the Phase III trial which will assess how the vaccine works in a large number of people over the age of 18, and how well the vaccine works to prevent them from the infection. However, it will take a year to conclusively determine if the vaccine offers long-term protection or not.
“There is still much work to be done before we can confirm if our vaccine will help manage the COVID-19 pandemic… We still do not know how strong an immune response we need to provoke to effectively protect against Sars-Cov-2 infection,” said Gilbert.
Indian Serum Institute Role
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said the company was on track to be producing doses by September. While the Oxford University will have intellectual property rights, Pune-based Serum Institute of India will emerge as a major supplier.
The data, published in the medical journal the Lancet, showed that the vaccine caused side effects such as fever, headaches, muscle aches, and injection site reactions, in about 60% of patients, which are deemed mild and not dangerous for any vaccine.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine AZD1222 has finally emerged as a relatively safe vaccine in view of similar results or data from others is still awaited from 22 other contestants who are in Phase III trial. In case its immediate rival vaccine from the Chinese biotech CanSino, the Phase 2 results showed that this vaccine works better in some people and not equally efficient among those aged 55 and older, a key target for Covid-19 vaccination.
Advantages of Oxford vaccine over Moderna vaccine
While the AZD1222 vaccine went on trials from April 30 with a 10,000-patient study in the United Kingdom, another 5,000-patient test began in Brazil in June and the current phase 3 results could become available in September, October, or November, said Astra-Zeneca.
AZD1222 has another advantage as it needs to be kept cold, but not frozen, whereas the messenger RNA vaccines work on the body’s genetic messaging system to provoke an immune response. The mRNA vaccines, developed by Moderna, the German firm BioNTech and the drug giant Pfizer, increased levels of neutralizing antibodies in patients.
WHO Scientist Michael Ryan announcing the Oxford vaccine trial results at a press conference Monday, July 20, 2020 (WHO)
AZD1222 works differently using a genetically engineered virus, called adenovirus, which was taken from chimps and modified not to replicate and sicken people. It carries a gene for one of the proteins in SARS-Cov-2 and inserts it into a recipient’s cells, which in turn, cause the patient’s cells to make that protein, which is then recognized by the immune system as foreign. This mechanism was not there in the past but has been used in experimental vaccines such as the Ebola virus and the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
Oxford vaccine vs CanSino
The next rival CanSino, also into its Phase 3 trial, is a viral vector vaccine that uses a live but weakened human cold virus, adenovirus 5 — known as Ad5 for short — to develop immune system of the body to recognize the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Its focus is on the Ad5 parts of the vaccine rather than the SARS-Cov-2 and many research groups have stopped it over concerns about preexisting immunity, which can run to 70% or higher in some populations.
CanSino Phase 2 trial essentially showed that those who had no or low-level pre-existing immunity to Ad5 developed neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 at roughly double the rate of people who had high-level preexisting immunity, especially in people aged 55 and older. CanSino has dropped the higher dose.
Kathryn Edwards, scientific director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program in Nashville, Tenn., noted the CanSino vaccine may not be protective enough for older adults, but it might be useful in children. However, the CanSino vaccine has already received an emergency license in China for use in the military.
In a boost to Ayurvedic medicines which recommend turmeric during the cold, flu and other virus-related disease, scientists found that curcumin, a natural compound found in the spice turmeric, could help eliminate certain viruses.
A study published in the Journal of General Virology showed that curcumin can prevent Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) – an alpha-group coronavirus that infects pigs – from infecting cells and at higher doses, it was also found to kill virus particles.
Infection with TGEV causes a disease called transmissible gastroenteritis in piglets, leading to diarrhoea, severe dehydration and death. TGEV is highly infectious and is invariably fatal in piglets younger than two weeks, thus posing a major threat to the global swine industry. There are currently no approved treatments for alpha-coronaviruses and although there is a vaccine for TGEV, it is not effective in preventing the spread of the virus.
To determine the potential antiviral properties of curcumin, the research team treated experimental cells with various concentrations of the compound, before attempting to infect them with TGEV. They found that higher concentrations of curcumin reduced the number of virus particles in the cell culture.
The research suggests that curcumin affects TGEV in a number of ways: by directly killing the virus before it is able to infect the cell, by integrating with the viral envelope to ‘inactivate’ the virus, and by altering the metabolism of cells to prevent viral entry.
“Curcumin has a significant inhibitory effect on TGEV adsorption step and a certain direct inactivation effect, suggesting that curcumin has great potential in the prevention of TGEV infection,” said Dr Lilan Xie, lead author of the study and researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Bioengineering.
Inhibits virus replication
Curcumin has been shown to inhibit the replication of some types of virus, including dengue virus, hepatitis B and Zika virus. The compound has also been found to have a number of significant biological effects, including antitumor, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities. Curcumin was chosen for this research due to having low side effects according to Dr Xie.
“There are great difficulties in the prevention and control of viral diseases, especially when there are no effective vaccines. Traditional Chinese medicine and its active ingredients, are ideal screening libraries for antiviral drugs because of their advantages, such as convenient acquisition and low side effects,” they said.
The researchers now hope to continue their research in vivo, using an animal model to assess whether the inhibiting properties of curcumin would be seen in a more complex system.
People who regularly exercise are at a lower risk of high blood pressure, even if they live in highly polluted areas, found a new research, since the risk-benefit relationship between air pollution and physical activity is a major concern as more than 91% of people worldwide live in areas where air quality fails to meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
The paper published in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation, is based on a study of more than 140,000 adults without high blood pressure in Taiwan, who are followed for five years. Researchers classified the weekly physical activity levels of each adult as inactive, moderately active or highly active.
Researchers also classified level of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as low, moderate and high. PM2.5 is the most commonly used indicator of air pollution. High blood pressure was defined as 140/90 mm Hg, though the American Heart Association 2017 Guideline defines high blood pressure as 130/80 mm Hg.
Exercise helps despite high pollution
Study author Xiang Qian Lao, an associate professor at the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shatin, said: “While we found that high physical activity combined with lower air pollution exposure was linked to lower risk of high blood pressure, physical activity continued to have a protective effect even when people were exposed to high pollution levels. The message is that physical activity, even in polluted air, is an important high blood pressure prevention strategy.”
Highlights of the study show that people who are highly active and exposed to low levels of pollution had a lower risk of developing high blood pressure, whereas those who were inactive and exposed to highly polluted air had a higher high blood pressure risk.
High risk levels
Each increase in PM2.5 level was associated with a 38% increase in risk of incident hypertension, whereas each increase in physical activity level lead to a 6% lower risk of hypertension, suggesting that reducing air pollution is more effective in preventing high BP.
Regardless of pollution level, people who exercised moderately had a 4% lower risk of high blood pressure than those who didn’t exercise. People who exercised at a high level had a 13% lower risk of high blood pressure than those who don’t.
The findings of this study are limited to air pollution because it only included people living in Taiwan, where ambient air was moderately polluted (the annual PM2.5 concentration was 2.6 times of the limit recommended by the World Health Organization).
Any Covid-19 vaccine? All nations and the entire world humanity was eagerly awaiting the precious announcement from at least one top nation that its scientists have successfully completed clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine.
When expectations were running high that it would be China, where the novel coronavirus had its origin in the city of Wuhan, unexpectedly Russia has announced first to the world that its clinical trials are completed successfully and the vaccine is ready for production.
The Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University is the one which has claimed that it has successfully completed the trails their vaccine has all the “safety of those vaccines that are currently in the market.”
Announcing the news, Vadim Tarasov, the director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Biotechnology of the Unviersity said the clinical trials have been conducted on volunteers, reports Russian news agency Sputnik, adding that the first group of volunteers would be discharged on 15 July and the second on 20 July.
Russian vaccine
The vaccine was produced by Russia’s Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology on June 18. “Sechenov University has successfully completed tests on volunteers of the world’s first vaccine against coronavirus,” Tarasov said.
“The safety of the vaccine is confirmed. It corresponds to the safety of those vaccines that are currently on the market,” said another scientist Alexander Lukashev, director of the Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases at Sechenov University.
“Sechenov University in a pandemic situation acted not only as an educational institution but also as a scientific and technological research center that is able to participate in the creation of such important and complex products as drugs,” Tarasov said.
Elsewhere, Gilead Sciences, Oxford University’s researchers and American biotech company Moderna are at the forefront of developing a Covid-19 vaccine, while a Canadian and Chinese joint project is equally pushing the date for completion of clinical trials. BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate is expected to be ready by the end of 2020.
Bollywood’s top actor Amitabh Bachchan said he was infected with the coronavirus and rushed to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai. Initial reports said the symptoms are not severe and the members of his family are also undergoing tests, with results pending.
In a tweet, Amitabh Bachchan said,”I have tested CoviD positive .. shifted to Hospital .. hospital informing authorities .. family and staff undergone tests , results awaited .. All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested ! ”
T 3590 -I have tested CoviD positive .. shifted to Hospital .. hospital informing authorities .. family and staff undergone tests , results awaited ..
All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested !
More details are awaited and doctors are still conducting tests on him in the hospital. The most beloved actor of Indian Bollywood did not hesitate to warn all those who came in close proximity to him to go for coronavirus test. “All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested,” he advised.
Amitabh Bachchan
The social media has gone into frenzy within minutes after the megastar tweeted his positive results. Many users have begun searching for his condition and Google Search has hit the roof with the search. While many people started wishing him a speedy recovery, the entire Bollywood swamped the Twitter platform to send him good wishes for his recovery. It remains to be seen whether any of his family members are also infected.
Ever since the coronavirus started in India, Amitabh Bachchan has been appearing continuously on TV for the last four months actively spreading awareness about corona and advising people to take extreme precautions.
