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.
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, 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.
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.
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)
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.
Amid rising COVID cases, Tamil Nadu Govt announces new restrictions effective till Jan 31: jewellery & textile shops, malls, theatres, beauty parlours, showrooms, amusement parks, and metro trains to operate at 50% capacity, ANI reported.
Patna, Dec 31 (PTI): A day after Bihar reported its first Omicron case, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that the third wave of COVID-19 has begun in the state and urged people to remain vigilant.
He also mooted opening a genome sequencing laboratory in the state.
"Bihar has recorded the first Omicron case. Everyone has to be alert. The state is witnessing a sharp rise in cases, with the maximum being registered in Patna and Gaya. A large number of people from other states reside in these two places, and this could be a reason behind the spike in cases in these areas," he told reporters.
"The third COVID wave has begun in the state. We are fully prepared to tackle this wave. The health department has upgraded hospital infrastructure," Kumar said.
The chief minister said that a review meeting will soon be convened to assess the situation, and the possibility of imposing curbs will be discussed.
"People from outside the state are being tested for COVID-19, and if anyone's result is returning positive, his/her samples are being sent to Delhi for genome sequencing. We will discuss in the review meeting on opening a genome sequencing laboratory in the state," Kumar said.
A senior health official said that the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) at Patna already has the required permission to open a genome sequencing laboratory.
The first case of the Omicron strain was detected in Patna on Thursday. The 26-year-old patient, a resident of Kidwaipuri locality of the state capital, had recently returned from Delhi. Bihar registered 100 COVID-19 cases on the previous day.
Gujarat logs 654 fresh COVID cases and 63 recoveries today
Active cases: 2962
Total recoveries: 8,18,652
Death toll: 10,118
Cases of Omicron: 113 (16 new cases today)
Maha records 8,067 new COVID-19 cases, 2,699 more than yesterday, including four Omicron infections: health dept
Maharashtra Minister Yashomati Thakur says she has tested positive for COVID-19, ANI reported.
Kerala reports 2,676 fresh COVID infections, 11 deaths and 2,742 recoveries; Active cases at 19,416, death toll 47,794
Sikkim announces new restrictions till January 10, 2022, amid the Omicron threat.
Pubs, discos, cinema halls, restaurants, fast food centres, bakeries, gymnasiums, barbershops, spas, and salons will operate with only 50% of seating capacity, ANI reported.
Hotels, homestays, guest houses are also now required to operate with only 50% capacity. All social & political gatherings are to be organised with prior permission from DC and 50% space capacity.
Pune reports 412 fresh COVID19 cases today, active cases 1,799: Pune Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra.
34 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in Dharavi in the last 24 hours, active cases in the area rise to 95: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
As COVID-19 precautionary measure, tour of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum closed till further notice: Rashtrapati Bhavan
Kerala records 44 fresh confirmed cases of Omicron taking total cases of the coronavirus variant to 107 in the state, informs Kerala Health Minister Veena George
While the surge in cases of highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid is rasing concerns among the people, and government, officials have said that Omicron has started replacing Delta variant in India.
Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala on Friday said the vaccines major has applied to Indian authorities for full market authorisation of Covishield, stating supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine have exceeded 125 crore doses.
SII had partnered with the developer of Covishield, AstraZeneca, for the supply of the vaccine to the Indian government, which had in January this year granted emergency use authorisation in the country.
"Supplies of the COVISHIELD vaccine in India, have exceeded 1.25 billion doses. The government of India now has enough data for full market authorisation, and therefore @SerumInstIndia has applied to the @CDSCO_INDIA_INF (DCGI) and @MoHFW_INDIA for this permission," Poonawala said in a tweet tagging the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Covishield, along with Bharat Biotech's Covaxin were the first two vaccines approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in January this year, under emergency use authorisation against the pandemic.
West Bengal | BCCI Chief Sourav Ganguly discharged from Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, Kolkata after recovering from COVID19.
Odisha on Friday reported the highest single-day spike of 228 new COVID-19 cases in the last three weeks, taking the tally to 10,54,834, a health department bulletin said.
The state had on December 10 registered 286 such infections.
The death toll rose to 8,460 as two more persons succumbed to the disease in Khurda district, it said.
Fifty-three other COVID-19 patients have died due to comorbidities so far, the bulletin said.
Khurda, which comprises Bhubaneswar, reported the highest number of fresh cases at 105, and thirty-two children are among the new patients, it said.
The state had on Thursday registered 225 fresh infections.
Odisha now has 1,727 active cases, while 151 people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 10,44,594, the bulletin said
Rajasthan| A 73-year-old man who was tested positive for Covid's Omicron strain on Dec 15, died today. Later, he was tested negative two times, so this will not be called a COVID death but a post-Covid death: Dr Dinesh Kharadi, Chief Medical and Health Officer Udaipur Division
As per the govt's order, there will be a night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am, and hence people will not be allowed to roam outside except in essential services. We request people to follow the guidelines and celebrate the New Year at their homes
Puducherry | Night curfew from 11 pm till 5 am have been imposed in the union territory with effect till 31st January 2022, except on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadashi.
South Africa has lifted overnight curfew rules that were first imposed nearly two years ago, with officials saying the country may have passed the peak of its fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.
The decision announced by the Presidency on Thursday followed meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President's Coordinating Council (PCC), which received updates on the management of the current fourth wave of COVID-19 in South Africa.
The wave is currently being driven by the Omicron variant, which was first detected in South Africa last month.
"The curfew will be lifted. There will therefore be no restrictions on the hours of movement of people, the Presidency said in a statement.
The number of people permitted at public events has also been increased.
A 26-year-old resident of Patna, who had recently visited Delhi and met a relative upon return from abroad, has been found to be infected with the omicron variant of COVID-19, a top official said on Thursday.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, the Executive Director of State Health Society, confirmed the first case of the new, fast-spreading variant, in Bihar.
The patient is a resident of the Kidwaipuri locality in the city.
He had visited the national capital last week to meet the relative, who tested positive for COVID-19 a day after he returned to Patna.
Later, the relative was found infected with the latest variant and the Patna man, who was in home isolation, got his sample collected and sent for testing in a lab.
"The Kidwaipuri resident, too, has contracted the omicron variant. The area in his vicinity has been made a containment zone, said Singh.
Maharashtra Government has capped the attendance at gatherings in open or closed spaces at 50, following a surge in coronavirus cases in the state.
Not more than 100 persons in enclosed spaces and 250 persons in open spaces were allowed to attend a marriage function or a social, cultural, political and religious gathering earlier.
The state government issued fresh guidelines on Thursday night, capping the number of attendees at these events to 50 persons.
The new order also stipulates that only 20 persons can attend last rites.
Maharashtra recorded 5,368 coronavirus cases on Thursday, a spike of 1468 cases from a day before. This propelled the state's COVID-19 tally to 66,70,754.
International passengers testing positive for COVID upon arrival at the IGI Airport to isolate at institutional designated paid and free facilities set up by in various districts: Delhi Govt
A 51-year-old woman has tested positive for coronavirus here, a day after her husband was found infected with the virus upon his return from Uganda.
Amit Jain (52) who had returned from Uganda a week ago was found infected with Covid, officials had said on Wednesday.
"On contact-tracing, his 51-year-old wife Rinita Jain was also found infected, Dr. Bhudeo Singh, the incharge of Rapid Response Team, said on Thursday.
Rinita Jain has also been placed under home quarantine, he said.
The district's Covid tally now goes up to 18 in the current phase, he said
South Africa has lifted night curfew that was first imposed nearly two years ago to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision announced by the Presidency on Thursday evening followed meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President's Coordinating Council (PCC), which received updates on the management of the current fourth wave of COVID-19 in South Africa.
The wave is currently being driven by the Omicron variant, which was first detected in South Africa last month.
"The curfew will be lifted. There will therefore be no restrictions on the hours of movement of people,” the Presidency said in a statement.
The number of people permitted at public events has also been increased.
"Gatherings are restricted to no more than 1,000 people indoors and no more than 2,000 people outdoors. Where the venue is too small to accommodate these numbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50 per cent of the capacity of the venue may be used. All other restrictions remain in place," according to a statement.
The Presidency cited several reasons for the decisions, which have been welcomed by the restaurant industry and members of the public who were cautioned on Wednesday by Minister of Police Bheki Cele that they would be arrested if they were out in public after midnight on Friday to celebrate the advent of the New Year.
The curfew was in place from midnight to 4 am under the lowest level of South Africa's five-level lockdown strategy.
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.
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