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Tuesday, March 17, 2026
TopicSARS-CoV-2

Topic: SARS-CoV-2

Wuhan virologists identify new coronavirus in bats. It has a disturbing similarity to COVID-19

Findings reported by a team of virologists at the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at Wuhan Institute of Virology. Study published in the journal Cell.

Govt to discuss declaring Covid endemic in India, as WHO says global emergency over

With 'pattern of disease' being stable & no alarming spike in hospitalisations and deaths in past few months, govt likely to call meeting of Covid task force soon, it is learnt.

French lab scientists couldn’t make bat virus mutate to become like SARS-CoV-2. Why it matters

Scientists at Pasteur Institute in France conducted experiments with bat virus similar to SARS-CoV-2 & tried to spur evolution of a mutation that could cause it to adapt to human cells.

45% of samples sequenced in India since January had Omicron, shows Covid lab network INSACOG

INSACOG, in its latest bulletin, revealed that nearly half of all Covid-19 samples sent for genomic sequencing in India since January this year have been identified as Omicron.

Covid result in 3 minutes? US FDA gives emergency-use nod for first SARS-CoV-2 breath test

InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer test detects chemical compounds in breath samples associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Needs to be performed by trained operators.

India’s 1st Covid nasal spray FabiSpray aimed at high-risk adults, doesn’t let virus reach lungs

Designed to kill the coronavirus in the upper airways before it progresses to the lungs, the nitric oxide spray was approved after clinical trials on 306 Covid patients in India.

Omicron could replace other Covid variants, survive as common cold: Harvard immunologist Pillai

Harvard Medical School professor Dr Shiv Pillai says India’s third wave likely to subside by March, and suggests that the country’s response to the pandemic was a mixed bag.

Covid spilling over to free-ranging animals? Dead leopard cub had Delta, didn’t die of it

Case was detected at a time when infection levels had dropped significantly in humans, says 12 January report by scientists from Indian Veterinary Research Institute.

Most of Covid virus ‘inactivated’ in minutes, says UK study on aerosol risk at short distance

Infectivity falls drastically within a few seconds to minutes of aerosol generation, according to a study by researchers from the University of Bristol, yet to be peer-reviewed.

Booster dose of Covishield can increase antibody levels against Omicron, Oxford study says

Antibody levels against Omicron were higher in people who had taken a 3rd Covishield dose than in people who’d had other Covid variants, found a preprint study by Oxford researchers.

On Camera

Free gas to waivers, govt-owned gas firms roll out incentives to push households from LPG to PNG

IGL, MGL & other city gas distributors announce benefits to encourage LPG users to shift to piped natural gas as Centre flags concerns over LPG supply in the wake of Iran conflict.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba, the man Iran must keep alive & the secret force ‘tasked with it’—all about NOPO

The Nirouyeh Vijeh Pasdaran Velayat, or NOPO, was the only force Ali Khamenei trusted.It was founded in 1991 and is more feared than the Revolutionary Guards.

Peaceful power transfers followed uprisings in India’s neighbourhood. It’s a sign of mature democracies

Rating democracies is a tricky business. I am only using the simple metric of who in the Indian subcontinent has had the most peaceful, stable, normal political transitions and continuity.