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New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will chair a high-level meeting tomorrow with state health ministers amid the spike in covid cases. The virtual meet will also be attended by Empowered Group and NTGAI (National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation ) officials.
According to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday, India logged 5,335 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in 195 days, while the active cases have increased to 25,587. On September 23 last year, 5,383 cases were recorded in a single day.
The death toll has increased to 5,30,929 with 13 deaths — two each reported from Karnataka and Maharashtra, one each from Kerala and Punjab, and seven reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.32 per cent while the weekly positivity rate has been pegged at 2.89 per cent, it said.
The total tally of Covid cases stands at 4.47 crore (4,47,39,054), according to the ministry.
The active cases now comprise 0.06 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has been recorded at 98.75 per cent, according to the health ministry website.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,82,538, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry’s website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
People exposed to higher levels of air pollution before the pandemic had lower antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines, according to a study.
In particular, exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and black carbon was associated with about a 10 per cent decrease in IgM and IgG antibody responses in people without prior infection, the researchers said.
The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, provide further evidence on the adverse effects of air pollution on the immune system.
“Air pollution has been linked to adverse health outcomes, including lung cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and diabetes,” said Manolis Kogevinas from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).
“Air pollutants have been shown to affect immune responses, so in this study we wished to determine whether air pollution also affects antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines,” said Kogevinas.
(With PTI inputs)
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