Testing

COVID-19 death toll rises in China as Beijing warns of 'grim' situation with rising infections

China has been struggling to stamp out its worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years with a playbook of harsh lockdowns and mass testing as it sticks to a strict zero-Covid policy

How do I know if I have a cold, the flu or COVID-19?: here's what experts say

With many similar symptoms caused by the three virus types, testing remains the best option to determine which one you may have

Centre issues revised guidelines for international passengers; quarantine, testing relaxation for fully vaccinated people

If partially or not vaccinated, the travellers need to undertake measures which include submission of sample for post-arrival COVID-19 test at the point of arrival and mandatory quarantine

How do you effectively use over-the-counter rapid antigen tests that can help slow the spread of COVID-19?

A viral load that is too low to be detected by rapid antigen tests is almost surely too low to be transmissible. But it’s important not to let your guard down completely.

To defeat pandemic, there's no alternative to public health measures, COVID-19 norms, mass vaccination: Here's why

COVID-19 latest news: It seems very likely that COVID is here to stay but the number of waves and the peak of the waves that we see in the future really depend on us

An Oral History of the COVID-19 Crisis: 'An uncharted territory of travelling through an unperceived threat'

This account is part of Firstpost’s Oral History Project of the COVID-19 Crisis in India. The Oral History Project aims to be an ongoing compendium of individual experiences of the pandemic, with a focus on one significant day in our respondents’ lives during this time.

Scientists are working to spot new viruses before they can spread, cause future pandemics

The human immune system keeps a record of pathogens it has met before, in the form of antibodies that fight against them and then stick around for life.

Important to conduct more Coronavirus tests even if it is just using standard rapid test

The CDC’s calculations suggest that it is extremely difficult to detect any live virus in a sample above a threshold of 33 cycles.

Indian scientists recommend testing asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, say viral load higher in them

Published in the medRxiv preprint repository, the yet-to-be peer reviewed study analysed whole genome sequence data of virus samples from 210 patients in and around Hyderabad in Telangana

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan believes India can get COVID-19 spread under control by Diwali

He said that the country is conducting about one million tests per day which is way ahead of the target.