Scientists work on drug in bid to tackle variants

TORONTO: Canadian and American researchers have claimed to have developed an antiviral drug that is most potent” yet in countering the Covid-19 virus’s variants of concern (VOCS).

The drug called N-0385 “blocks the Sars-cov-2 virus from entering human cells through its favoured cell gateways”, according to a release from Vancouver-based University

of British Columbia. A preprint version of the study on the new drug has been uploaded on website of the journal Biorxiv.

Other institutes that were associated in developing the drug are Universite de Sherbrooke in Quebec and Us-based Cornell University.

Meanwhile, schools in the US should continue to use masks for the 2020-21 academic year as all students will not be fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said.

Four months into its stuttering Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Brazil is struggling to find enough doses. Around 33mn - 15% of the population have received at least one dose, a proportion still too small to have a substantial impact.

A truncated version of a chariot festival took place on Saturday in Nepal’s capital amid strict Covid-19 restrictions.

With inputs from agencies