Covid Cases In India HIGHLIGHTS: Focus On Health Emergency Response During G20 Presidency, Says Mandaviya
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The Union Territory of Puducherry registered a surge in new Covid cases with 10 infections on Thursday, according to a senior health official. The new cases were reported during the last 24 hours as against five cases registered on Wednesday, Director of Health G Sriramulu said in a release. He said that while Puducherry region accounted for nine cases, Karaikal had a solitary case of viral infection. Mahe and Yanam regions reported nil case.
Maharashtra on Thursday reported 23 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 81,36,748, while the death toll stood unchanged at 1,48,417, a health official said. This was a rise from the 16 cases reported on Wednesday. Mumbai circle led with 14 cases, followed by six in Pune circle, two in Nagpur circle and one in Latur circle.
Mumbai on Thursday reported seven COVID-19 cases, which took the tally here to 11,55,142, while the death toll stood unchanged at 19,746, a civic official said. It is a rise from the three cases reported on Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official added.
Amid a surge in Covid cases in China, Germany on Thursday announced that it would ask arrivals from China for a negative coronavirus test.
According to the sources in the Health Ministry close to ABP News, out of the 19,227 tests conducted at the international airports from December 24 to January 3, 124 patients were found positive and were sent to isolation. A total of 11 variants were found in them. Among the total variants found, variants XBB1,2,3,4 are already existing in India.
The government is seriously screening, studies are being done. No variant will be able to make a more serious impact in India, the ministry sources said.
India has recorded 188 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have declined to 2,554, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. The total tally of Covid cases has been recorded at 4,46,79,319 and the death toll stands at 5,30,710, with three deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The daily positivity has been recorded at 0.10 percent while the weekly positivity has been pegged at 0.12 percent, the ministry said. The active cases comprise 0.01 percent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has increased to 98.80 percent, according to the health ministry's website.
There has been a decrease of 16 cases in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours, it stated, and added that the number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,46,055 while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 percent.
Four cases of Covid subvariant BF.7 detected in Bengal, all from the US, Says Health Department, as reported by the news agency PTI.
Delhi logged 6 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, with the case positivity rate at 0.13 percent, stated a bulletin issued by the Delhi Health Department on Wednesday. With the fresh infections, the active cases in the Capital stand at 30. Further, according to the bulletin, 10 Covid patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 19,80,699. However, with no death from Covid-19 reported over the last 24 hours, the overall toll in the national capital remained at 26,521.
As part of the ongoing countrywide vaccination drive, 1,023 Covid vaccine shots were administered in the city in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally to 3,73,62,764. Also, as many as 4,562 Covid samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of samples tested in the Capital to 4,06,16,500.
The bulletin further informed that Delhi has, so far, not reported any cases of Omicron BF.7 sub-variant, the new Covid strain blamed for the explosion in cases in neighbouring China, Japan, and several other countries.
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Four cases of Covid sub-variant BF.7 infection were found in Bengal on Wednesday. All the patients had arrived from the US. A 21-year-old was also diagnosed with the XBB.1.5 variant infection, responsible for the rise in cases in the US.
Meanwhile, Global airlines grouping International Air Transport Association (IATA) termed the COVID restrictions on China a 'knee-jerk' reinstatement of measures, which have proven "ineffective" in the last three years.
Amid mounting international restrictions on travellers from China due to a surge in Covid cases, Beijing on Tuesday called the curbs "unacceptable" and warned of "countermeasures" in response, AFP reported. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said some countries have imposed entry restrictions "targeting only Chinese travellers".
IATA chief Willie Walsh in a statement on Wednesday said: "Governments must base their decisions on 'science facts' rather than science politics." Several countries are introducing COVID-19 testing and other measures for travellers from China, even though the virus is already circulating widely within their borders, according to IATA.
"It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years," Walsh, who is the Director General of IATA, said.
On Tuesday, five cases of COVID-19's XBB.1.5 variant infection were found in India, according to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). Of the five, three cases were found in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka and Rajasthan, according to INSACOG figures on Tuesday. The XBB.1.5 strain is a relative of the Omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the Omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants. Combined, XBB and XBB.1.5 make up 44 per cent of cases in the US.
Government officials had earlier said that the need for a second booster dose of Covid vaccine is not on the agenda as of now. A fourth Covid shot is unwarranted at the moment as most people in the country are yet to receive their third dose, they said.
Also, there is no data available on the utility of a second booster for the currently used vaccines, the officials said.
India began administering a precautionary or booster dose in January 2022 and till now only 28 per cent of the eligible population have taken it. "The need for a second booster dose of Covid vaccines is not on the agenda of the government as of now nor are discussion over it underway. Most importantly, majority of the population are yet to receive a third dose and those who are due for it should take it," an official source said.
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