Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Maharashtra Reports 11,877 New COVID Cases, 50 Patients Test Omicron Positive
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: In a massive surge, Delhi on Saturday recorded 2,716 fresh Covid cases, the highest single-day rise since May 21, and one death while the positivity rate mounted to 3.64%.
"On seeing the symptoms of Corona infection, I got tested for COVID in Raipur this evening, in which my report has come out positive. I am in good health right now and as per the directions of the doctors, I am undergoing treatment in home isolation": Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh wrote on Twitter.
A total of 6,79,064 teenagers between the age of 15-18 registered for vaccination on CoWIN app so far. Vaccination for the 15-18 age group will begin from Monday.
Restaurants including hotels, coffee shops, eating places, marriage palaces and banquet halls in Chandigarh will now open with 50% capacity. Only those who have taken both doses of vaccine will be allowed entry, reads an official order of SDMA, UT Chandigarh.
(Photo: ANI)
Kolkata, Jan 2 (PTI): Continuing with the steep hike in Covid-19 cases in West Bengal for the past one week, the state on Sunday recorded 6,153 infections with Kolkata accounting for 3,194 of them, a health department bulletin said.
The state had recorded 4,512 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, with the metropolis alone reporting 2,398 of them.
The bulletin said that eight people died of coronavirus on Sunday, while nine such patients had perished the previous day.
A total of 19,781 people have died of the disease so far, according to the bulletin.
Of the eight fresh fatalities in the state, two persons died in Kolkata, three in North 24 Parganas, two in Hooghly and one in Howrah districts, the bulletin said.
The positivity rate went up to 15.93 per cent from 12.02 per cent the previous day, while the number of daily tests went up from Saturday's 37,542 to 38,633 on Sunday, it said.
North 24 Parganas followed Kolkata to be in the second position in the number of infections at 994 cases on Sunday, up from 688 on the previous day, the bulletin said.
Apart from Kolkata and North 24 Parganas, the other districts which recorded high incidence of cases are Howrah (595), South 24 Parganas (280), Paschim Bardhaman (257), Hooghly (218), Birbhum (140) and Nadia (102), according to the data.
As 2,407 Covid patients were discharged on Sunday, the recovery rate stood at 97.77 per cent, it said.
A total of 16,12,331 people have been cured of the infection so far, it said, adding that the number of total Covid cases recorded in the state is 16,49,150.
Altogether 2,14,68,047 samples have been tested for Covid-19 in West Bengal so far, the bulletin said.
Mumbai, Jan 2 (PTI) Mumbai recorded a steep rise in the daily coronavirus cases with 8,063 infections on Sunday, 1,763 more than the figure added to the tally on Saturday, the civic body said. The city did not see any death during the day due to the infection and 89 per cent of the cases reported are asymptomatic, it added. On Saturday, the city recorded 6,347 infections, and Sunday's addition was a rise of 27 per cent, officials pointed out.
Kerala reports 45 new cases of Omicron, total tally reaches 152, ANI reported state govt as saying.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed that Dharavi reported 60 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, ANI reported. Presently, there are 179 active cases in Dharavi.
Kerala reports 2,802 new cases, 12 deaths, and 2,606 recoveries today; Active cases at 19,180. Death tally at 48,113.
66 deaths were added to the death tally as per the new guidelines of the Central government, says Kerala govt in an official statement, ANI reported.
Goa government aims to inoculate all 72,000 children in 15-18 age group against COVID-19 with first dose in next four days after vaccination opens for them on Monday: Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said, as reported by PTI.
Pakistan's Planning Minister Asad Umar has said that there are clear indications of the beginning of a new wave of the pandemic amidst a spike in the number of the new cases of COVID-19's Omicron variant in the country.
Umar, who is also the chief of the country's anti-pandemic body National Command and Opertion Centre (NCOC), also said that the country was taking all the measures required to contain the virus in the country.
Clear evidence now of a beginning of another Covid wave which has been expected for last few weeks. Genome sequencing showing rising proportion of omicron cases particularly in Karachi, he said in a tweet.
Umar urged the people to remember wearing a mask is your best protection against the infection.
Pakistan has already braved four waves of the pandemic since the first case of the coronavirus was reported on February 26, 2020.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi speaks with Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel over COVID19/Omicron situation and inquires about the preparedness of the State
85 students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Gangarkot in Nainital Dist. test positive for Covid. These students are under isolation in school premises. Students who tested negative in RT-PCR test to undergo antigen test, to be sent home if test negative: Dy Collector
Over 3.5 lakh beneficiaries of the 15-18 age group have registered themselves on the CoWIN portal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, as on Sunday morning.
As per the data on the CoWin dashboard, 3,57,984 beneficiaries of the 15-18 age group had registered on the portal by 9:30 am.
Registrations for vaccinating 15-18-year-old children against COVID-19 began on January 1.
CoWIN is an Indian government web portal for COVID-19 vaccination registration, owned and operated by India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Further, the data on the portal revealed that as many as 92,18,61,878 registrations have been made so far, including 57,37,14,969 of age group 18-44, and 34,77,88,925 for age above 45.
Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath has tested positive for COVID-19 days before the Pink Test which is played in memory of his late wife Jane, who died of breast cancer, and is used as a fundraiser to support patients suffering from the dreaded disease.
The time Australia's opponent in the Pink Test will be England as part of the Ashes series.
The year-opening Test will be played at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 5.
The third day of the SCG Test is known as Jane McGrath Day and it remains to be seen if the former cricketer will turn negative in time to attend the event.
McGrath, however, will be present virtually when both sides are presented with their baggy pink caps.
A total of 1,525 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 23 states and Union Territories so far, out of which 560 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Sunday.
Maharashtra recorded a maximum of 460 cases, followed by Delhi at 351, Gujarat 136, Tamil Nadu 117 and Kerala 109.
India's Covid tally rose to 3,48,89,132 with 27,553 fresh cases, while the active cases have increased to 1,22,801, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The death toll has climbed to 4,81,770 with 284 more fatalities, the data stated.
The active cases have increased to 1,22,801 comprising 0.35 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.27 per cent, the ministry said.
An increase of 18,020 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.55 per cent.
The Uttar Pradesh Prisons Department has decided to ban visitors to meet inmates in view of the increasing number Covid-19 cases in the state.
The Department had allowed visitors to meet jail inmates on August 16 after suspending visits on March 24, 2020, due to Covid-19.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi has instructed Covid-19 testing and inoculation for both undertrials and convicts.
All guidelines such as wearing of masks and sanitization must be followed inside prisons, he said.
Awasthi further said that temporary prisons must be set up for 14-day quarantine of new inmates, adding that all hearings must be through video conferencing.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Kakryal (Katra) campus closed after 13 students test positive for COVID19
Amid an alarming increase of new Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a state-wide mock drill on Monday and Tuesday to review preparedness to tackle the resurgence.
In the past 24 hours, 383 fresh Covid cases were reported in 38 districts of the state, while the number of active cases was 1,211.
"Experts say that the infection rate is now higher but the virus is weaker. People should wear masks and follow social distancing, sanitisation and vaccination," the Chief Minister said.
Yogi has also asked concerned officers to make preparations for vaccination drive for adolescents between the age group of 15 and 18 years from Monday and also for the precautionary dose for Corona Warriors, health workers, frontline workers and those above 60 years of age having co-morbidities from January 10.
"Though Covid cases were rising in the state the situation was in control but even a little negligence could prove costly."
Amit Mohan Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Health, said in a statement: "In all 1,93,549 Covid samples were tested and 383 new cases were reported."
Thirty-one patients recovered in the past 24 hours, which has increased the overall tally to 16,87,859.
Rajasthan recorded 52 fresh Omicron cases on Saturday, which took the tally of cases of the new variant of the coronavirus to 121 in the state, an official said.
Of the new Omicron cases, 38 were reported from Jaipur, three each form Pratapgarh, Sirohi and Bikaner, two from Jodhpur and one each from Ajmer, Sikar and Bhilwara, according to a health department spokesperson.
Nine of these infected persons have returned from abroad, four persons came in contact with foreign travellers while 12 persons have returned from travel to other states, the spokesperson said, adding that two have been traced through contact history.
Omicron patients are being isolated at a special ward at the RUHS Hospital.
Till date, 121 people have been found infected with Omicron variant and of them, 61 have recovered, the spokesperson said.
On the other hand, 301 new cases of corona virus infection have been reported in the state on Saturday apart from Omicron cases.
Uttarakhand reported four new cases of Omicron in last 24 hours taking the number of people infected with the latest variant of Covid-19 in the state so far to eight, officials said here on Saturday.
The four people earlier infected with Omicron have recovered.
One Omicron case was reported from the state on December 11 and three more on December 27.
Of the four new cases, three cases are from Dehradun and one from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Director General Health Tripti Bahuguna said.
Three of the infected persons are in their 20s and one is a 15-year-old girl.
The infected people include a 28-year-old man from Dehradun who had returned from abroad via Gurugram, a 23-year-old man who had also returned from Gurugram recently, a 15-year-old girl who had come into contact with the latter, and a 27-year-old man from Ahmedabad who had come to Rishikesh on December 21.
The imposition of lockdown in the state was not being discussed at present, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said here on Saturday.
Disaster management minister Vijay Wadettiwar had said the day before that the "stage of fresh lockdown" was nearing, but the decision will be taken by the chief minister.
"Decision of lockdown is not under discussion currently. The government will take decision about restrictions by taking into consideration the case positivity rate, hospital bed occupancy and oxygen consumption," Tope told reporters. "If the daily (medical) oxygen requirement crosses 700 metric tons, then the state will go into lockdown automatically," he said. Tope was here to attend a function to mark the 39th anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi Mission educational trust.
"Currently we have imposed some restrictions on social gatherings. If it brings the virus spread under control, well and good. Otherwise we will have to impose stricter restrictions," the health minister added.
Background
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: The national capital's South district has reported the highest number of Covid cases in a single day at 372 while the northeast district had the least at 52, according to official data shared on Saturday, as Delhi sees a major spurt in cases with each passing day.
Delhi has so far logged 351 cases of Omicron with it emerging as the dominant variant among samples being genome sequenced here. Out of the 11 districts of the national capital, barring one, all other areas have case figures in three digits.
In a massive surge, Delhi recorded 2,716 fresh Covid cases, the highest single-day rise since May 21, and one death while the positivity rate mounted to 3.64 per cent, according to data shared by the city's health department on Saturday.
The daily case count on Saturday breached the 2000-mark after a gap of over seven months.
Gujarat reported 23 new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the tally of such infections in the state to 136, the health department said.
The day before the state had reported 16 such cases.
Ahmedabad city alone accounted for 11 new Omicron cases, Surat four, Vadodara, Anand and Kutch two cases each, and Kheda and Rajkot one case each.
Only 12 of these patients had recent international travel history. As many as 65 Omicron patients have recovered in the state so far, including 11 who were discharged from hospitals on Saturday.
Ahmedabad city has reported the highest 50 Omicron cases till now, followed by Vadodara with 23, Surat 16 and Anand 13 cases.
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