Health

Coronavirus update: AstraZeneca halts global vaccine trials

COVID-19 has affected 19 sectors in India that were not under stress earlier, with a total Rs 15.5 lakh crore outstanding debt; retail and wholesale trade most affected

 
By DTE Staff
Published: Wednesday 09 September 2020
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Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc halted global trials of the vaccine it was developing against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) because of a serious adverse reaction in a participant, the company said September 9, 2020.

  • The company said the halt was “a routine action whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials”, reported news daily The New York Times. It is unclear till when the trial will be halted.
  • AstraZeneca’s share price dipped 12 per cent to Rs 3,650 in the Bombay Stock Exchange, reported Financial Express.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic affected 19 sectors that were not under stress earlier, but now account for Rs 15.5 lakh crore of debt, with the retail and wholsesale trade sectors being the most affected and accounting for Rs 5.4 lakh crore of the debt, according to a report by news daily Hindustan Times citing a report by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) expert committee on a resolution framework, headed by former ICICI Bank chief KV Kamath.
  • India added 89,852 fresh COVID-19 cases September 8, taking the total tally to 4,369,984 cases, 896,937 active cases and 73,933 total deaths, according to data from private tracker covid19india.org.
  • Testing on September 8 increased to 1,154,549 tests, according to data from the Indian Council of Medical Research.
  • The report also pointed out 11 sectors already under stress that now have a debt of Rs 22.2 lakh crore. Non-banking financial sectors had the greatest debt, at Rs 7.98 lakh crore.
  • The Tamil Nadu government discovered a scam amounting to Rs 110 crore in the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan scheme) that took advantage of clearance norms being relaxed after the lockdown, according to news daily Indian Express.
  • Of the Rs 110 crore, Rs 32 crore was retrieved, mostly from bank accounts directly, with the government expecting to retrieve the remaining amount within 40 days, said the report.
  • The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released several guidelines for schools that will be allowed to reopen outside containment zones from September 21 for senior students from Classes 9-12, reported Indian Express.
  • The guidelines include the sanitisation of common utility and work areas with one per cent sodium hypochlorite solution, with attendance being voluntary and students coming to class only to seek guidance from teachers, said the Indian Express report.
  • There were 27,740,265 total COVID-19 cases across the world, with 901,871 deaths and 19,833,287 recoveries, according to tracker worldometers.info, as of September 9.

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