Coronavirus Pandemic

Kerala government has made it compulsory to wear masks in public places, workplaces, during transport, and other gatherings. Chief Secretary Dr. V P Joy said on April 27, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 20(3) of the Disaster Management Act 2005, wearing masks will be made mandatory in the state. The daily positivity rate in India has increased by 0.3% in 24 hours, reported ANI.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted EUA to the first-ever Covid-19 breath test. The InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer can produce results in less than three minutes. The device can separate and identify chemical mixtures, and detect five compounds associated with Sars-CoV2 infection in the exhaled breath of a person. The diagnostic test has more than 90% accuracy in identifying both positive and negative samples.

India reports 27,409 new cases of COVID-19 on February 15, 82,817 recoveries, and 347 deaths in the last 24 hours, which is 19.7% lower than February 14. While the active caseload in India is at 4,23,127. Notably, the current recovery rate in the country stands at 97.82%. However, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Mizoram registered the maximum cases. Moreover, as of now, India has administered 173.42 crore vaccine doses to people.

Amid the pandemic, Cambodian lion dancers are all set to perform at Lunar New Year Ceremony. All the income sources have dried up during the pandemic, with the number of performances bottoming out to about once a month instead of five, said a performer. The Cambodian Chinese Association estimates there are eight troupes, but the number may shrink. Notably, Sino-Khmers have long been an integral part of the Cambodian society.

Manindra Agarwal, an IIT professor, shared his analysis of spread of COVID-19 and its variant, Omicron in 2022. He said, the virus, which is possibly is in its third wave, is expected to peak in major states like Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala by next week. He also listed reasons for the massive surge, which could be less immune population and casual attitude towards pandemic.