Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Johnson & Johnson said Monday that it had temporarily stopped its Covid-19 vaccine test because one of its participants had become ill. “We have temporarily stopped additional dosing in all of our Covid-19 vaccine candidate clinical trials, including the ENSEMBLE Phase 3 trial, due to unexplained illness in a study participant,” the company said in a statement. The hiatus means the online enrollment system has been closed for the 60,000-patient clinical trial while the independent committee on patient safety is convened. Two weeks ago, the company released a 60,000-person final trial of a single-shot Covid-19 vaccine that would potentially simplify the distribution of millions of doses compared to major rivals using two doses. Rival vaccines from Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca require two injections several weeks apart, making them much more difficult to administer.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus and is not contagious to others, the White House doctor said Monday, 10 days after Trump announced he had contracted the coronavirus. In a memo released by the White House just hours before Trump resumed campaign rallies, Dr. Sean Conley said the president had tested negative on consecutive days using an Abbott Laboratories ABT.N BinaxNOW antigen card. Conley said the negative tests and other clinical and laboratory data “indicate a lack of detectable viral replication.” Trump’s medical team had determined that, according to data and guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “The president is not contagious to others,” Conley said.
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Gujarat records 1,169 new Covid-19 cases and 1,442 recoveries | The COVID-19 count in Gujarat rose to 1,52,765 on Monday with the addition of 1,169 new cases in the past 24 hours, the state health department said. Eight more patients died statewide, bringing the death toll to 3,577, the department said in a statement. In addition, 1,442 people recovered from the infection and were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of such cases to 1,337,552, he said, adding that the recovery rate of cases in the state it is now up to 87.55 percent.
Pune Adds 988 New Covid-19 Boxes; 37 Die | The Covid-19 count in the Pune district of Maharashtra rose to 3.07,852 with the addition of 988 new cases in the past 24 hours, a health official said. With 37 patients succumbing to the infection, the death count in the district reached 7,204, he said. At the same time, 950 patients were discharged from hospitals.
Biden: Trump ‘turned his back’ on a pandemic | Joe Biden told a rally in Ohio that Donald Trump “turned his back” on him during the pandemic and its economic fallout. Biden questioned why Republicans had time for supreme court hearings but not to come to terms with House Democrats on another financial aid package to help individuals, businesses, and city and state governments. .
Gujarat’s textile industry in Surat continues to incur losses due to pandemic | “In February-March, 10 billion rupees worth of clothing was supplied across the country, we have not received payment yet. Our business has been severely affected,” says the director of the Federation of Textile Traders Association of Surat.
Bengal reports 3,583 new Covid-19 cases, 60 recent deaths | West Bengal’s COVID-19 count rose to 2,98,389 on Monday, as 3,583 more people tested positive for the infection, while 60 new deaths raised the number of coronavirus deaths in the state to 5,682, a newsletter from Health. Kolkata reported the highest number of recent deaths with 19, followed by North 24 Parganas (16), South 24 Parganas (eight) and Malda (four), he said.
New Zealand sees 18th consecutive day with no new community cases | New Zealand has recorded its 18th consecutive day with no new cases of Covid-19 spreading in the community, health officials said. All 39 active cases of the virus in New Zealand were diagnosed in returning travelers to the country, who remain in government-run quarantine facilities.
Sikkim Reports Seven New Covid-19 Cases, One More Death | Sikkim reported seven new COVID-19 cases and one more death, an official said. East Sikkim recorded six positive cases, while North Sikkim represented an infection.
SEE | Donald Trump claims he is cured and is now ‘immune’ to coronavirus
Boris Johnson Establishes a New System for Covid Restrictions | UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson established a new three-tier system for Covid restrictions to “simplify and standardize” the rules in England. The Liverpool city region was immediately placed in the “very high” category, with pubs and bars closed and almost all domestic mixes banned.
18 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Mizoram, bringing the total count to 2,202. The number of active cases amounts to 156, while 2,046 people have been registered so far. To date, no deaths have been reported in the state.
Mainland China Reports First Locally Transmitted Infection | Mainland China reported its first locally transmitted Covid-19 infections in nearly two months, when the city of Qingdao launched a city-wide testing campaign after discovering new cases related to a hospital designated to treat imported infections. The National Health Commission said in a statement that a total of 13 Covid-19 infections were reported in mainland China on October 12, up from 21 the previous day.
South Korea Reports 102 New Coronavirus Cases | South Korea reported 102 new coronavirus cases, representing a triple-digit increase in six days, the Korea Agency for Disease Prevention and Control said. Daily infections had largely fallen into the double-digit range in the past two weeks, prompting the government to relax some rules on social distancing this week.
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Trial Paused Due to Unexplained Illness | Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine trial has been stopped, Stat News reports, due to “unexplained illness in a study participant.” A document sent to external investigators conducting the 60,000-patient clinical trial indicates that a “pause rule” has been met, that the online system used to enroll patients in the study has been closed, and that a the data and security monitoring board, the report said
Trump Tests Negative for Covid-19, Not Infectious: White House Doctor | US President Donald Trump has tested negative for COVID-19 and is not contagious to others, the White House doctor said, 10 days after Trump announced he had contracted the coronavirus. However, Trump returned to the election campaign with a rally in Sanford, Florida, the first since he revealed Oct. 2 that he tested positive for COVID-19.
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