Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Noida's Active COVID-19 Cases Nearing 200, Ghaziabad Crosses 100-Mark
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: The highly contagious Omicron variant crossed 1,000 on the back of Maharashtra reporting its highest single-day infection with the new strain.
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Background
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Amid the rising cases of Coronavirus fueled by the new Omicron variant, government has written to eight states and union territories (UTs) directing them to take measures as there has been an increase in daily infections and lessening of doubling time.
The daily rise in Covid cases crossed the 13,000 mark after around 49 days, Union Health Ministry said during its media briefing. The highly contagious Covid variant crossed 1,000-mark on the back of Maharashtra reporting its highest single-day infection with the new strain.
As per the latest data available from the Centre and the states in the night, the total number of Omicron cases in the country was around 1,200.
Maharashtra on Friday reported 198 new cases of the Omicron variant, including 190 in Mumbai alone, the state health department said in a release. With this, the tally of these cases in the state rose to 450.
State-Wise Covid Update
Maharashtra
Maharashtra on Friday reported as many as 5,368 fresh Coronavirus infections, an increase of 1,468 cases over Thursday’s numbers. 1,193 recoveries and 22 deaths were also recorded in the state while active cases reached 18,217.
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope has urged citizens to avoid crowding and follow guidelines to avoid infection. He also informed that schools will not be closed as of now.
"I urge everyone to avoid crowding and follow guidelines to avoid infection. School students (15-18 yrs) should be taken in batches to vaccination centres. This will result in a high rate of vaccination. Schools will not be closed as of now," Tope said.
Delhi
Delhi recorded 1,313 fresh Covid cases with positivity rate standing at 1.73 per cent and 423 recoveries in the last 24 hours. Active cases in the national capital stood at 3,081 while total recovery touch 14,18,227 mark.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that Omicron is gradually spreading in the community and the variant of concern has been found in 46 per cent of the latest samples of regular Covid cases analysed in the national capital.
West Bengal
West Bengal registered more than 2,000 cases after nearly six months as the state reported 2,128 new infections.
The new tally is nearly double the number of cases reported on Wednesday when 1,089 infections were detected. Meanwhile, Covid infections in Kolkata have more than doubled in the last 24 hours as the city reported 1,090 infections on Thursday.
West Bengal's positivity rate jumped to 5.47 per cent on Friday from 2.84 per cent on Wednesday. The state has so far reported 16,35,034 Covid-19 cases.
Gujarat
Gujarat on Thursday reported 573 Covid cases, taking its overall tally to 8,31,078, while 2 deaths in the past 24 hours took its death toll to 10,118 so far. The state is once again witnessing a spike in the number of Covid cases, with its daily caseload nearing the 600-mark, from around 100 just six days back.
Of the new cases reported on Thursday, Ahmedabad led the chart with 278 cases, followed by Surat (78), Vadodara (50), Rajkot (28), Gandhinagar (19), Kutch (16), Valsad (15), Anand (14), Bhavnagar (10), Mahisagar (9), Bharuch, Kheda and Navsari (8 each), Jamnagar (7), Amreli and Mehsana (5 each), Panchmahals (4), Morbi and Junagadh (3 each), Sabarkantha (2), and Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath and Surendranagar (1 each).
Karnataka
Witnessing a spike for the second consecutive day, Karnataka on Thursday reported 707 new cases and three deaths, taking the total number of infections to 3,006,505 and the toll to 38,327. Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 565, Udupi 19, Mysuru 53, Hassan 17, Mysuru 16, Kodagu 12, Dakshina Kannada 11, followed by others.
State Health Department also informed that 252 people were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 29,59,926.
Coronavirus deaths in Eastern Europe cross 1 million-mark
According to a Reuters tally, Coronavirus deaths in Eastern Europe topped 1 million on Thursday, amid the surge in cases of Omicron variant.
Three out of the five countries reporting the highest number of daily deaths in Europe are from the East, including Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Noida's active COVID-19 cases nearing 200, Ghaziabad crosses 100-mark
Noida, Dec 31 (PTI) Gautam Buddh Nagar on Friday logged 61 new COVID-19 infections highest in Uttar Pradesh, pushing the number of active cases in the district to 190, official data showed.
Ghaziabad, adjoining Gautam Buddh Nagar, also recorded 34 new cases that pushed its tally of active infections to 118, according to the data shared by the state's health department for a 24-hour period.
Gautam Buddh Nagar currently has the highest number of active cases in UP followed by Lucknow (152) and Ghaziabad, the statistics showed.
On Friday, Uttar Pradesh had 862 active cases of COVID-19, up from 645 on Thursday and 473 on Wednesday, according to the official figures.
So far, Gautam Buddh Nagar has recorded 468 deaths due to Covid, while Ghaziabad has logged 461 such fatalities.
COVID-19 cases had reduced to single digit figures both in Gautam Buddh Nagar as well as Ghaziabad but surged again this month amid fears of a third wave of the pandemic, as night curfews were also brought back in UP from December 25.
Ridge Maidan In Shimla Vacated Of Tourists On New Year's Eve Amid Omicron Scare
Shimla, Dec 31 (PTI) Tourists and local people gathered at the Ridge maidan here were evacuated from the ground on Friday evening amid fears of the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi said.
Negi told PTI that thousands of people had gathered on the Ridge maidan on the eve of the new year and the district administration thought to vacate the overcrowded Ridge Maidan to check the Omicron spread.
About the presence of a bomb disposal squad on the Ridge, Negi said the squad along with fire tenders were deployed as a precautionary measure.
The Shimla administration decided to vacate the overcrowded Ridge to check the spread of omicron, he added.
Thousands of tourists from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and nearby areas and local people had gathered at the Ridge Maidan but the police suddenly started vacating it at around 7.30 pm, a tourist said.
Delhi: 1,796 fresh COVID cases reported today, a jump of 483 cases over yesterday's numbers
1,796 fresh COVID cases reported in Delhi today, a jump of 483 cases over yesterday's numbers; positivity rate rises to 2.44%.
Active cases: 4410
Total recoveries: 14,18,694 (467 recoveries today)
(Photo: ANI)
Maharashtra CM says people must ensure their behaviour does not contribute to virus spread
Mumbai, Dec 31 (PTI) On New Year's eve on Friday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged people to be careful and to ensure their behaviour does not contribute to the spread of the coronavirus infection.
We don't want to stop, but we need to be alert and cautious, no matter how many challenges come, a statement by the Chief Minister's Office said.
May the New Year bring happiness and prosperity to all our lives. For this, let us resolve for better health, the chief minister said.
He appealed to the people to be careful, adding that crowds and their behaviour and carelessness must not contribute to the spread of infection.
Maharashtra recorded 8,067 cases, including four Omicron patients, on Friday, another steep rise of 2,699 from the figure reported a day before, while the last 24 hours also saw eight deaths.
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