Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Mumbai Reports 10,661 New COVID Cases & 11 Deaths, Active Infections 73,518

Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Keep refreshing this space for all the accurate information on Covid-19 and its spread in India, Corona Guidelines, and much more.

Background

Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: India is undergoing a massive surge in the number of Covid-19 cases since the dawn of the new year. New Delhi, Mumbai, and other cities have become the epicenters of Covid-19, but, apart from the cities, even J&K is facing ten times more Covid cases in the state. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization approved two new Covid-19 treatments on Friday, growing the arsenal of tools along with vaccines to stave off severe illness and death from the virus.Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday said COVID cases in the region have risen 10 times in the past 10 days. The sharp spike has necessitated strict protocols, and curtailment of unnecessary movement by the general public, it said.The Coronavirus surge in Delhi continued to surpass the fresh infections in Mumbai as both cities reported 24,383 and 11,317 cases respectively on Friday.While the number of fresh cases in the national capital was less than that of Thursday, the positivity rate increased. Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Friday said 75 percent of the patients, who died due to Covid-19 so far in the national capital, were unvaccinated.Jain said Delhi reported 28,867 new Covid-19 cases earlier on Thursday, adding the national capital is expected to record less than 25,000 cases on Friday.Kerala strengthens Covid regulations in wake of the unprecedented hike in covid figures. Only online classes will be there for children till 9th Standard. A detailed guideline on this will be released on Monday.

15/01/2022 23:20:07

22 more coronavirus deaths in Punjab, 6,883 cases

Chandigarh, Jan 15 (PTI) Twenty-two more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Punjab while 6,883 fresh coronavirus cases took the infection tally to 6,56,549, according to a medical bulletin issued on Saturday.

Six new fatalities were reported from Patiala, five from Ludhiana, three from Amritsar, two each from Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur and one each from Mohali and Sangrur.

The fresh deaths pushed the pandemic toll to 16,754 in the state.

The number of active cases rose to 37,546 from 34,303 on Friday.

The state's positivity rate was 19.46 per cent.

Of the fresh cases, Mohali reported 1,497 cases, followed by 1,283 in Ludhiana, 588 in Bathinda, 522 in Jalandhar and 476 in Patiala.

A total 521 patients are on oxygen support while 25 critical patients are on ventilator support, according to the bulletin.

A total of 3,547 people recovered from the infection, taking the number of recoveries to 6,02,249, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Chandigarh reported 1,795 COVID-19 cases, taking the total count to 76,270.

With no death reported in the city in the last 24 hours, the toll remained unchanged at 1,086.

Chandigarh has a COVID-19 positivity rate of 26.71 per cent.

The number of active cases in the city was 8,511 while the number of recoveries was 66,673.

15/01/2022 23:13:01

Jharkhand Govt extends COVID restrictions in state till January 31

Jharkhand Government extends present COVID 19 related restrictions in the state till January 31.

15/01/2022 22:21:28

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crosses 156 crores

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crosses 156 crore with more than 57 lakh vaccine doses administered today: Union Health Ministry

15/01/2022 22:10:16

Maharashtra reports 42,462 new cases & 23 deaths; Active caseload stands at 2,64,441

15/01/2022 21:46:30

Tamil Nadu records 23,989 fresh COVID-19 cases, 11 fatalities

Tamil Nadu records 23,989 fresh COVID-19 cases, 11 fatalities, infection count jumps to 29,15,948 and death toll rises to 36,967; number of active cases now 1,31,007: State Health Department

15/01/2022 21:45:59

14 cases of Omicron variant found in Jharkhand

"14 cases of Omicron variant found in Jharkhand today. 87 samples had been sent to Bhubaneswar for genome sequencing. Out of 87, 14 are confirmed cases of Omicron and 1 Delta variant detected": Arun Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary informed, as reported by ANI.

15/01/2022 21:06:25

At 7, Gujarat sees highest number of COVID-19 deaths in past few months; logs 9,177 new cases

Ahmedabad, Jan 15 (PTI) Gujarat on Saturday reported seven COVID-19 fatalities, the highest rise in a single day in the last few months, taking the overall toll to 10,151.

However, the new cases in the state dropped for the second consecutive day on Saturday with the registration of 9,177 infections, raising the overall tally to 9,16,090, the Gujarat health department said.

On Thursday, new cases in Gujarat had surged past 11,000 before easing at 10,019 Friday.

Of the seven fresh fatalities, Surat reported three deaths, Ahmedabad two, while Navsari and Rajkot each saw one fatality, the department said.

With a total of 5,404 patients discharged during the day, the number of recoveries in Gujarat increased to 8,46,375, the department said in a release.

Gujarat is now left with 59,564 active cases. The condition of 60 of them is critical.

Ahmedabad (2,621), Surat (2,214), Vadodara (1,211) and Rajkot (438) accounted for over 70 per cent of the total fresh infections.

Ahmedabad district reported the highest number of 2,666 new cases, followed by 2,496 infections in Surat, 1,298 in Vadodara, 587 in Rajkot, 250 in Bhavnagar, and 218 in Gandhinagar, the release said.

A total of 1.76 lakh people were administered COVID-19 doses on Saturday, taking the total number of the doses administered in Gujarat to 9.46 crore, it said.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu rose to 10,952 with the addition of 27 new infections, officials said.

With 24 people getting discharged, the tally of recoveries in the UT went up to 10,745, they said, adding that the UT is now left with 203 active cases.

Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 9,16,090, new cases 9,177, death toll 10,151, discharged 8,46,375, active cases 59,564, people tested so far - figures not released.

15/01/2022 20:41:14

West Bengal logs 19,064 new COVID-19 cases, 39 fresh fatalities

Kolkata, Jan 15 (PTI) West Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 18,82,761 on Saturday as 19,064 more people tested positive for the infection, 3,581 less than the previous day, a health bulletin said.

The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 20,052 as 39 more patients succumbed to the infection, it said.

West Bengal's positivity rate slightly improved to 29.52 per cent from 31.14 per cent on the previous day, the bulletin said.

Kolkata registered the highest number of fresh fatalities at 12, followed by 10 in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district, it said.

The number of active cases increased by 9,893 to 1,55,376, while 9,132 more people recovered from the disease, but the discharge rate deteriorated to 90.68 per cent.

The state has tested over 2.22 crore samples for COVID-19 so far, including 64,572 in the last 24 hours, the bulletin added

15/01/2022 18:59:53

Mumbai reports 10,661 new COVID cases & 11 deaths today; Active cases 73,518

Mumbai reports 10,661 new cases & 11 deaths today; Active cases 73,518

15/01/2022 18:58:52

Test positivity rises to 15% in Karnataka with 32,793 new cases reported today: State Minister Dr K Sudhakar

15/01/2022 18:56:33

Odisha logs 10,856 new COVID-19 cases, Omicron tally mounts to 202

Bhubaneswar, Jan 15 (PTI) Odisha's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 11,22,735 on Saturday with 10,856 fresh infections, while two more fatalities pushed the death toll to 8,478, the Health Department said in a bulletin.

The state also reported 32 new Omicron cases taking the tally of the new strain of coronavirus in Odisha to 202, a health department official said.

The daily test positivity rate jumped to 14.49 per cent from 13.57 per cent the previous day, when 10,273 coronavirus cases were reported, the bulletin said.

Khurda district, where the state capital Bhubaneswar is located, reported over a quarter of the new cases at 3,087, followed by 1,943 in Sundargarh, 909 in Cuttack, and 500 in Sambalpur.

As many as 1,021 children tested positive for the infection out of the 74,936 samples tested in the past 24 hours, the bulletin said.

Odisha now has 61,809 active cases, while 10,52,395 patients have recovered from the disease so far, including 2,216 since Friday, the bulletin said.

Fifty-three other COVID-19 patients who died in the state to date had comorbidities, the bulletin said.

The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, informed the state health and family welfare department about the detection of the new Omicron cases after genome sequencing of the samples.

The 32 new Omicron cases were detected from genome sequencing of 42 samples, indicating a positivity ratio of the new variant of coronavirus at 76 per cent.

During the last genome sequencing of samples, drawn from nine districts between December 29 and January 9, 74.5 per cent of the samples were found infected with the Delta variant while the remaining 25.5 per cent were of the Omicron strain.

ILS director, Ajay Parida, had earlier told journalists that the Delta variant was the dominant variant in the state, but Omicron sub-type BA.2 was fast replacing it in the state.

The ILS is the lone laboratory in the state where genome sequencing facility is available.

The highly transmissible variant of coronavirus was first detected in Odisha on December 21.

Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said that 1,100 coronavirus patients, comprising less than two per cent of the active cases, are hospitalised currently, out of which around 350-360 are in the ICU.

Meanwhile, AIIMS Bhubaneswar will suspend the outpatient department (OPD) services from Monday as many staff and students have contracted the virus within a week.

The OPD will be functional only for those who have registered online and for all emergency cases, the institute said.

15/01/2022 18:15:31

Kerala reports 17,755 new COVID19 cases & 17 deaths

Kerala reports 17,755 new COVID19 cases & 17 deaths today; Active caseload stands at 90,649

Death toll: 50,674

89 deaths have been added to the death tally as per the guidelines of the Central government.

15/01/2022 17:46:02

Delhi reports 20,718 new COVID cases & 30 deaths in last 24 hours, positivity rate at 30.64%

Delhi reports 20,718 new cases & 30 deaths in last 24 hours; Active cases rise to 93,407. The positivity rate remains at 30.64%

15/01/2022 16:59:27

Those not fully vaccinated will not be allowed to enter public places: Assam CM

"Those not fully vaccinated will not be allowed to enter public places like district courts, hotels, markets etc. from tomorrow. There is no situation of a lockdown in Assam yet, but wearing a mask is a must": Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, as quoted by ANI.

15/01/2022 16:13:59

Bengal extends COVID restrictions till Jan 31, Marriage-related functions allowed with maximum of 200 people or at 50% capacity of venue

Bengal extends COVID-19 restrictions till Jan 31; allows fairs on open grounds in very restricted manner with adherence to safety norms, PTI reported citing the official order. Marriage-related functions will be allowed with a maximum of 200 people at a time or 50% seating capacity of the hall/venue, whichever is lower.

15/01/2022 15:41:51

Unvaccinated children in 15-18 age group will not be allowed to enter schools: Haryana minister Anil Vij

15/01/2022 10:46:54

India Covid-19 Cases Update | January 15, 2022

15/01/2022 08:32:09

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala Govt Strengthens Covid Regulations. Allows Only Online Class For Schools

Kerala strengthens Covid regulations in wake of the unprecedented hike in covid figures. Only online classes will be there for children till 9th Standard. A detailed guideline on this will be released on Monday.