Tag Archives: India

Heavy rains cripple Indian cities; at least 35 killed

MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s capital New Delhi and the main financial center of Mumbai were drenched with heavy rain on Monday, a day after at least 35 people were killed across the country in landslides and house collapses triggered by downpours.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rain in north India, including New Delhi, over the next two days. In Mumbai, the IMD has issued a heavy rain and thunderstorm alert for the city and surrounding districts.

At least 30 people were killed on Sunday in three Mumbai suburbs when several houses collapsed in landslides after rain.

At least three people were also killed when a house collapsed in the northern state of Uttarakhand after a downpour, Reuters partner agency ANI reported.

In a separate incident on Sunday evening, a three-story building collapsed in the city of Gurugram, bordering Delhi. Two people were killed and rescue operations were still underway.

Several low-lying areas of Delhi and Mumbai were flooded and Twitter was filled with images of submerged vehicles and people wading through waist-deep water.

Mumbai’s water treatment plant in the suburbs was flooded on Sunday forcing the municipal council to impose water cuts in some parts of the city.

India is in the midst of its annual rainy season but the downpours over the past few days have been particularly heavy.

Extreme weather has hit several parts of the world in recent weeks with flooding in Europe, dam collapses in China and heatwaves in North America adding to worries about climate change.

(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Robert Birsel)

At least 18 people killed in lightning strikes in India

(Reuters) – At least 18 people, including seven children, were killed and 16 others injured by lightning strikes in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan late on Sunday, local officials said.

Eleven of those killed were tourists visiting the Amer fort on the outskirts of the state capital Jaipur, after lightning struck a watchtower near the site.

“As it started raining visitors took cover at a watchtower near the fort. Lightning struck the watchtower killing 11 people on the spot and injuring others,” Jairam, a local police officer who identified himself by only one name, told Reuters on Monday.

Most of those dead were local tourists, he said.

Seven children were killed by lightning strikes in two other incidents in the state on Sunday night, Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Twitter.

There were also reports of casualties from lightning strikes in the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, but the number of those affected was not immediately known.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed in a tweet his condolences to the families of the deceased.

Lightning and thunderstorms are common in the rainy season in India, which runs from June to September.

(Reporting by Sumit Khanna in Ahmedabad; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Delta variant already dominant in U.S., CDC estimates show

By Mrinalika Roy

(Reuters) – The Delta variant is already the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States, according to data modeling done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the health agency’s estimates the Delta variant became dominant in the country over the two weeks ended July 3, with 51.7% cases linked to the variant that was first identified in India.

The proportion of cases linked to the Alpha variant which was first identified in Britain and had been dominant in the United States so far, fell to 28.7%.

The data, which shows the estimated biweekly proportions of the most common SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in the United States, is based on sequences collected through CDC’s national genomic surveillance since Dec. 20, 2020.

The Delta variant, which is becoming dominant in many countries, is more easily transmitted than earlier versions of the coronavirus and may cause more severe disease, especially among younger people. It has now been found in every U.S. state, health officials have said.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden encouraged Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots to protect themselves from the widely spreading, highly contagious variant.

So far, preliminary data has shown that vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna are largely protective against Delta, with the concentration of virus-neutralizing antibodies being somewhat reduced.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)

China, U.S. can coexist in peace but challenge is enormous – White House

By David Brunnstrom and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said on Tuesday that it was possible for China and United States to coexist in peace but the challenge was enormous and Beijing had become increasingly assertive.

At an event hosted by the Asia Society think tank, Campbell said President Joe Biden will host a summit later this year with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan – the so-called “Quad” grouping that Washington see as a means of standing up to China.

Asked when he expected a first meeting between Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and whether this could come at the G20 summit in October, he replied: “My expectation will be that we’ll have some sort of engagement before too long.”

Campbell said the challenge for the United States would be to come up with a strategy that presented China with opportunities, but also a response if it takes steps “antithetical to the maintenance of peace and stability”.

There were likely to be “periods of uncertainty, perhaps even periods of occasional raised tensions,” he said.

“Do I think it’s possible that the United States and China can coexist and live in peace? Yes I do. But I do think the challenge is enormously difficult for this generation and the next,” he said.

He said Beijing had been increasingly assertive in recent times, taking on many countries simultaneously, a strategy that contrasted with how it operated in the 1990’s.

​ He criticized China’s approach to U.S. ally Australia.

“I’m not sure they have the strategic thinking to go back to a different kind of diplomacy towards Australia right now. I see a harshness in their approach that appears unyielding”

On Taiwan, the self-ruled U.S.-backed island China sees as part of its territory and wants to reclaim, Campbell maintained a cautious approach.

He said the United States supports having a strong unofficial relationship with Taiwan but does not support its independence.

“We fully recognize, understand the sensitivities involved here,” he said. “We do believe that Taiwan has a right to live in peace. We want to see its international role, particularly in areas like vaccines, and issues associated with the pandemic, they should have a role to play here, they should not be shunned in international community.”

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Delta variant gains ground in U.S., men do worse with COVID-19

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) – The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Highly contagious Delta variant gaining ground in U.S.

The highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in India, has become the most prevalent variant among new COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to California-based genomics company Helix. The company’s computer models indicate that Delta now accounts for around 40% of new U.S. cases, Dr. William Lee, vice president of science at Helix, said in a statement provided to Reuters. The models, based on 27,717 virus samples from 687 counties across the United States, also indicated that the worrisome Gamma variant, first identified in Brazil, accounts for about 15% of new cases. Helix researchers have noted occasional cases of an “offspring” variant of Delta called Delta-plus, but they “aren’t seeing any evidence suggesting that these are driving the growth of Delta around the country yet,” Lee said. Earlier in June, the researchers reported on the medical website medRxiv ahead of peer review that the percentage of new COVID-19 cases due to the variant first identified in Britain, known as Alpha, had dropped from 70% in mid-April 2021 to 42% six weeks later. Now, Lee said, Alpha “is down to around 20%.” Lee said his team has submitted an update to the previous medRxiv preprint and is waiting for approval.

Regardless of health status, men do worse with COVID-19

Men appear more likely than women to experience severe outcomes from COVID-19 regardless of whether the men have underlying health conditions, according to a new study. Researchers in New York City who tracked roughly 5,000 patients of both sexes who were diagnosed in early 2020 found that men were sicker when first diagnosed and had a higher need for intensive care treatment and higher rates of death than women. This was true even though the men on average were younger and less likely than women to have risk factors such as obesity and high blood pressure that previously have been linked with poor COVID-19 outcomes. Among women, the likelihood of severe COVID-19 outcomes did seem to be related to their health status, the researchers said in a report published on Wednesday in the journal Communications Medicine. A second analysis of another group of roughly 1,600 patients in New York City diagnosed later in the year showed similar patterns. The authors noted that because their information on patients’ pre-existing medical problems may have been incomplete, larger studies are needed to confirm their findings and to explain the causes.

Moderna vaccine antibodies neutralize variants in lab study

The mRNA vaccine from Moderna Inc can defend against emerging variants with only modestly reduced effectiveness, laboratory experiments indicated. Moderna researchers studied blood serum obtained from eight volunteers who had received the second dose of the vaccine a week earlier. They found the vaccine had produced antibodies capable of neutralizing all variants, including additional versions of the Beta variant first identified in South Africa and three lineages of variants first identified in India, including the Kappa and Delta variants. The analysis did show some reduction of neutralization, by 2.1 fold against Delta, 3.3-3.4 fold against Kappa and 3.2 fold against Gamma, which was first identified in Brazil. “These new data are encouraging and reinforce our belief that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine should remain protective against newly detected variants,” Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said. The Moderna data was posted on Monday on the bioRxiv medical website ahead of peer review. Earlier in June, researchers reported in the journal Nature that the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech elicited antibodies that could neutralize all tested variants, including Delta, although at reduced strength.

(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Mrinalika Roy; Editing by Will Dunham)

Portugal sees biggest daily jump in COVID-19 infections since mid-February

LISBON (Reuters) – Coronavirus cases in Portugal jumped by 2,362 in the past 24 hours, the biggest increase since mid-February, official data showed on Wednesday, as authorities continued to scramble to stop the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.

Portugal, population 10 million, faced its toughest battle against the coronavirus in January but a recent surge in cases brought daily numbers to levels last seen in February, when the country was under a strict lockdown.

Portuguese health authorities have blamed the rise in cases on the Delta variant, first identified in India. It accounts for more than half of cases in the country, which has the European Union’s second highest seven-day rolling average of cases per capita.

In total, Portugal, which has fully vaccinated around 31% of its population, has recorded 879,557 cases and 17,096 deaths since the pandemic began. Most new cases are in Lisbon.

The jump in infections comes after tourism-dependent Portugal opened to visitors from the European Union and Britain in mid-May. Most businesses have reopened and, as the summer season kicks off, beaches are packed.

Britain removed Portugal from its quarantine-free travel list earlier this month and Germany declared Portugal to be a “virus-variant zone” last week, leaving the country’s tourism sector in a tight spot.

Portugal said on Monday British visitors to Portugal must quarantine for 14 days if they are not fully vaccinated. Those aged under 18 travelling to Portugal from Britain with a fully vaccinated parent or guardian will be exempt from the quarantine rule.

Authorities are speeding up the vaccination campaign and have imposed new restrictions in a few municipalities, including in the Lisbon area from where the Delta variant has spread to other parts of the country.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine shows promise against Delta variant in lab study

(Reuters) -Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine showed promise against the Delta variant first identified in India in a lab study, with a modest decrease in response compared to the original strain, the drugmaker said on Tuesday.

The study was conducted on blood serum from eight participants obtained one week after they received the second dose of the vaccine, mRNA-1273.

The vaccine provoked an antibody response against all the variants tested, according to Moderna, but one that remained inferior in all cases to the vaccine’s neutralizing activity against the original coronavirus strain first found in China.

The vaccine was far more effective in producing antibodies against the Delta variant than it was against the Beta variant first identified in South Africa, the data showed.

Against three versions of the Beta variant, the vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies reduced six-to-eight fold compared to those produced against original strain, while modest 3.2 to 2.1 fold reductions were seen for lineages of the variant first identified in India including Delta and Kappa.

“These new data are encouraging and reinforce our belief that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine should remain protective against newly detected variants,” Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said.

Earlier in the day, India granted permission to drugmaker Cipla Ltd to import Moderna’s vaccine to the country for restricted use.

The drugmaker’s shares were up 5.5% at $235.39 in mid-day trading.

Moderna has submitted the data as a preprint to the website bioRxiv ahead of peer review.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

India’s richest state shuts malls, cinemas as new variant spreads

By Rajendra Jadhav and Bhargav Acharya

MUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s richest state on Friday ordered malls and cinema halls to close as it scrambles to control a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus that has scuppered plans to ease lockdown measures.

At least 20 cases in Maharashtra state have been found linked to the new Delta Plus variant that India designated a variant of concern on Tuesday, according to the health ministry.

While it is not known where the variant originated, Public Health England first reported on Delta Plus in a June 11 bulletin, calling it a sub-lineage of the Delta variant first detected in India last year.

The Delta variant was partly responsible for a ferocious second wave in India that triggered a flood of cases and overwhelmed the health system.

Scientists fear Delta Plus could trigger another wave of infections as India recovers from the second wave. Many states, including Maharashtra, have been easing lockdown rules imposed in April.

“Positivity rate and daily infections were going down consistently until a week ago, but in some regions again cases have started to rise,” a senior government official in Maharashtra told Reuters, declining to be named.

“We don’t know whether this is due to easing restrictions or the new variant, but this is a concern,” the official added.

At least 11 other countries have reported cases of Delta Plus.

New variants are a concern in India, where more than half the population is still not vaccinated. Only about 5.6% of India’s adult population of 950 million has received two doses.

The country has reported 48 cases of Delta Plus, and studies are ongoing to test the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the variant.

“We should have the results in about 7 to 10 days time whether the vaccine is working against the Delta Plus,” said Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

In Maharashtra, a state of around 126 million people, only around 30 million have received a first dose.

“If citizens start doing business and crowding places without following guidelines, then infections may increase … local authorities should not open businesses in a hurry,” the state’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said.

India reported 51,667 new infections and 1,329 deaths on Friday, taking total infections to 30.13 million with 393,310 deaths.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Ankur Banerjee and Uday Sampath in Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Zeba Siddiqui and Giles Elgood)

Swelling Ganges opens up India’s riverside graves

By Ritesh Shukla and Saurabh Sharma

PRAYAGRAJ, India (Reuters) – More corpses are washing up on the banks of the Ganges in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, as rains swell the river and expose bodies buried in shallow graves during the peak of the country’s latest wave of coronavirus infections.

Videos and pictures in May of bodies drifting down the river, which Hindus consider holy, shocked the nation and underlined the ferocity of the world’s biggest surge in infections.

Though cases have come down drastically this month, the Uttar Pradesh city of Prayagraj alone has cremated 108 bodies found in the river in the last three weeks, said a senior municipal official.

“These are those dead bodies which were buried very close to the river and have gone into it with the rise in its water levels,” Neeraj Kumar Singh told Reuters.

“The municipal corporation has deployed a team of 25 people who are working day and night on this front.”

Reuters saw more than a dozen riverside pyres burning a few miles from Prayagraj.

India, the world’s second most populous country, saw its health infrastructure crushed in April and May. Hospitals ran out of beds and life-saving oxygen and crematoriums became overwhelmed with the dead.

The government of Uttar Pradesh, home to 240 million people, acknowledged in May that bodies of COVID-19 victims were being dumped into rivers in a practice likely stemming from poverty and families abandoning victims for fear of the disease.

“Instructions have been passed to every district magistrate to cremate the dead bodies with proper respect,” said Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson Navneet Sehgal.

“There are dead bodies buried on the river bank and it is because of a local tradition.”

The state reported 224 COVID-19 infections overnight, taking its total caseload to 1.7 million, while total fatalities are at 22,366.

(Reporting by Ritesh Shukla in Prayagraj, Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow and Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

India says new COVID variant is a concern

By Uday Sampath Kumar and Bhargav Acharya

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India on Tuesday declared a new coronavirus variant to be of concern, and said nearly two dozen cases had been detected in three states.

The variant, identified locally as “Delta plus,” was found in 16 cases in the state of Maharashtra, Federal Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a news conference.

The ministry said Delta plus showed increased transmissibility and advised states to increase testing.

On Monday, India vaccinated a record 8.6 million people as it began offering free shots to all adults, but experts doubted it could maintain that pace.

“This is clearly not sustainable,” Chandrakant Lahariya, an expert in public policy and health systems, told Reuters.

“With such one-day drives, many states have consumed most of their current vaccine stocks, which will affect the vaccination in days to follow.”

With the currently projected vaccine supply for the next few months, the maximum daily achievable rate is 4 to 5 million doses, Lahariya added.

The effort has so far covered about 5.5% of the 950 million people eligible, even though India is the world’s largest vaccine producer.

A devastating second wave during April and May overwhelmed health services, killing hundreds of thousands. Images of funeral pyres blazing in car parks raised questions over the chaotic vaccine rollout.

Since May, vaccinations have averaged fewer than 3 million doses a day, far less than the 10 million health officials say are crucial to protect the millions vulnerable to new surges.

VACCINE DRIVE FALTERING

Particularly in the countryside, where two-thirds of a population of 1.4 billion lives and the healthcare system is often overstretched, the drive has faltered, experts say.

Maintaining the pace will prove challenging when it comes to injecting younger people in such areas, Delhi-based epidemiologist Rajib Dasgupta said.

The capital is also facing difficulties. Authorities in New Delhi said more than 8 million residents had yet to receive a first dose and inoculating all adults there would take more than a year at the current pace.

India has been administering AstraZeneca’s vaccine, made locally by the Serum Institute of India, and a homegrown shot named Covaxin made by Bharat Biotech.

Last week, Serum Institute had said it planned to increase monthly production to around 100 million doses from July. Bharat now estimates it will make 23 million doses a month.

On Tuesday, television channel CNBC-TV18 reported that phase-3 data for Covaxin showed an efficacy of 77.8%.

India may also soon have a mass rollout of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, and the government expects to import vaccines this year from major makers such as Pfizer.

Although new infections in India have dropped to their lowest in more than three months, experts say vaccinations should be stepped up because of the transmissibility of new variants.

Over the past 24 hours India reported 42,640 new infections, the lowest since March 23, and 1,167 deaths.

Infections now stand at 29.98 million, with a death toll of 389,302, health ministry data showed.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath Kumar and Bhargav Acharya, Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru, Shilpa Jamkhandikar in Pune; Writing by Neha Arora; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Angus MacSwan and Giles Elgood)