Covid-19 Cases in India: At least 9,265 new recoveries were reported in India in the last 24 hours.
India reported 7,992 fresh COVID-19 cases and 393 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As per the COVID bulletin, India's active caseload currently stands at 93,277, the lowest in 559 days. The active caseload accounts for less than one per cent of total cases and is currently at 0.27 per cent, the lowest since March 2020.
With 9,265 new recoveries reported across the country in the last 24 hours, the total recoveries mounted to 3,41,14,331. The recovery rate is at 98.36 per cent, the highest since March 2020. With the addition of new fatalities, the death count mounted to 4,75,128.
The daily positivity rate at 0.64 per cent remained less than two per cent for the last 68 days. The weekly positivity rate is 0.71 per cent and remained below one per cent for last 27 days.
Delhi logged its second case of Omicron as a traveller who returned from Zimbabwe tested positive. With the latest infection, India has so far logged 33 cases of the new variant that has sparked fresh worry worldwide. In Maharashtra, a three-year-old was among seven new patients confirmed by the state government on Friday.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus cases in India:
Australia Shortens Wait Time For Covid Booster Shots Amid Omicron ScareAustralia said on Sunday it will shorten the wait time for people to receive COVID-19 booster vaccines following a rise in cases of the Omicron variant.
Australia had previously said it would offer a COVID-19 booster to everyone over 18 and who had their second dose of the vaccine six months prior.
But with rising cases of the Omicron variant, Australia's Health Minister Greg Hunt said the time interval will be shortened to five months after the second dose.
"A booster dose, five or more months after the second dose, will make sure that the protection from the primary course is even stronger and longer lasting and should help prevent spread of the virus," Hunt said in an emailed statement.
Coronavirus India News: Only fully COVID-19 vaccinated people allowed in Madurai's Meenakshi Amman Temple
The Meenakshi Amman Temple administration on Saturday said that only people fully vaccinated against Covid will be allowed to enter the temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu from December 13.
This comes after the Madurai administration banned non-vaccinated people from entering public places.
Coronavirus Live Updates: Delhi records 52 cases, zero deaths
The national capital recorded 52 fresh Covid cases today, along with zero deaths, with a positivity rate of 0.09 per cent, according to Health Ministry data.
The total number of cases reported in Delhi so far stood at 14,41,662. Over 14.16 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.
The death count due to the coronavirus infection in Delhi remained at 25,100. Two deaths due to the coronavirus infection have been recorded in December so far.
Coronavirus News Updates: Bangladesh's first Omicron cases reported in two female cricketers
Bangladesh has detected its first cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, said the country's Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday.
The Omicron variant was detected in two female cricketers of the Bangladesh Cricket Team, the health minister said, adding the cricketers returned to the country recently from Zimbabwe, Xinhua reported.
Merchant Navy Ship Crew Members Arriving In Goa From South Africa Test Negative For Omicron
Four crew members of a merchant navy ship, who had tested positive for coronavirus after they arrived in Goa from South Africa, have tested negative for the Omicron variant while another sample has been sent for re-testing to Pune in Maharashtra, Goa health department officials said on Saturday.
The five crew members, including two from Russia, had arrived from Cape Town. They had tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month, following which their samples were sent for genomic sequencing to a laboratory in Pune as they had travelled from a high-risk country.
Coronavirus Live Updates: Kerala reports 3,795 new Covid casesKerala reported 3,795 new Covid cases today. 50 new Covid-related fatalities took the total death count in the state to 42,824, while 4,308 recoveries were also recorded today.
The active cases stand at 38,583.
Coronavirus Live Updates: Over 1,300 passengers arrive in Maharashtra from abroad amid Omicron threat
At least 1,349 people have travelled from foreign countries to Maharashtra's Raigad in the last eight days, causing the district health department to keep watch on them in light of the emergence of the Omicron variant, an official said on Saturday.
While the COVID-19 test reports of these travellers have come out negative, they have been advised to remain under home quarantine, district health officer Dr Sudhakar More said.
The airport authority has been regularly sharing the details of passengers with the local administration for monitoring purposes, the official added.
Omicron Cases In India: 1-Year-Old Maharashtra Girl Recovers, 3-Year-Old Asymptomatic A one-and-a-half-year-old girl, who had tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus in a Pune district of Maharashtra recently, has been discharged from hospital after recovering from the infection, while a three-year-old boy, who was also found infected with the new strain in the area, is asymptomatic and keeping well, health officials said on Saturday.
Centre advises states, UTs to emphasize on district-level Covid containment measures
The Centre has advised states and Union Territories (UTs) to emphasize on the district level measures for containment of COVID-19 clusters as 27 districts across 10 states and UTs have been reporting high positivity rates in the past two weeks.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in his letter to the chief secretaries and administrators of the states and UTs also emphasized the strategic containment interventions in identified areas, including night curfews, restricting gathering of people, congregation, and curtailing attendees in marriages and funerals.
Coronavirus News Updates: Dead Man Gets COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate In Madhya Pradesh, Says ReportA dead senior citizen allegedly received a message about having taken the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and got a certificate for the same in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district, an official said today.
The authorities have cited computer error as a reason for the goof-up, in which Purushottam Shakyawar (78) of Biaora town, who died in May, received a message on his mobile phone number that he was administered the second dose of the vaccine on December 3.
China orders COVID-19 tests for travel with some border citiesChina has ordered some border cities to beef up vigilance against COVID-19 with measures such as mandatory testing for travellers, in its effort to prevent clusters caused by viruses arriving from abroad.
Since mid-October, locally-transmitted symptomatic cases have risen to more than 2,000, with several small northern towns on the borders with Russia or Mongolia, among the hardest-hit, as health resources there are sparser than in major cities.
Ukraine receives more World Bank funds to fight COVID-19The World Bank has approved an additional $150 million loan to help Ukraine speed up vaccinations against COVID-19, the international lender's Ukrainian office said on Saturday.
Ukraine's government will spend $120 million on 16.5 million vaccine doses and the rest will be used for IT, communications and public outreach, capacity building and cold chain and waste management equipment, the World Bank said.
Coronavirus Live Updates: With surge in fresh infections, Pakistan records 395 new COVID-19 cases
Witnessing a surge in new COVID-19 cases, Pakistan reported 395 fresh coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, according to National Command and Operation Centre. On Friday, the country recorded 313 fresh coronavirus cases, as per NCOC. A total of 50,859 samples were tested, out of which 395 turned out to be positive.
Covid updates: 131.99 crore vaccine doses administered till nowAccording to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 12,50,672 samples were tested for the presence of the virus. A total of 65,46,27,300 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the country so far.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive, 131.99 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far.
As per the ministry, over 140 crore (1,40,07,00,230) vaccine doses have been provided to States and UTs so far through the government's free of cost channel and through the direct state procurement category.
Australia treasurer calls for easing Covid curbs despite rising casesAustralia must loosen COVID-19 restrictions to bolster its economic recovery, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Saturday, even as daily infections rose to a six-week high.
"States need to keep calm and carry on. And not overreact to the Omicron variant," Frydenberg told reporters in Melbourne.
Australia is one of the world's most vaccinated countries, with nearly 90% of people over 16 fully inoculated. Still, Australia said it found 1,753 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, up about 3% in the last week and the highest daily total since Oct 29.
India records 7,992 new Covid casesIndia's active caseload currently stands at 93,277 -- lowest in 559 days
Active cases account for less than 1% of total cases, currently at 0.27%; Lowest since March 2020
Drug Regulator Seeks More Data Over Approval For Covishield Booster: ReportAn expert panel of India's central drug authority which reviewed Serum Institute's application for approval of Covishield as booster dose against COVID-19 on Friday recommended that the firm submit local clinical trial data and proposal along with justification for the booster dose approval, official sources said.
On December 1, Prakash Kumar Singh, director, Government and Regulatory affairs at Serum Institute of India (SII), had sought approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for Covishield as booster dose, citing adequate stock of the vaccine in the country and a demand for a booster shot due to the emergence of new coronavirus variants.
Mr Singh had referred to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency giving a go-ahead to the booster doses of AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine in the application.
Switzerland Approves Covid Vaccination Of Children Aged Between 5 And 11 The Swiss medicines agency Swissmedic on Friday approved the vaccination of children aged between five and 11 with Pfizer-Biontech's Comirnaty vaccine.
"Clinical trial results show that the vaccine is safe and effective in this age group," it said in a statement.
The Comirnaty vaccine is administered in two doses of ten microgrammes three weeks apart.
An ongoing clinical trial of more than 1,500 people "shows that the Covid-19 vaccine offers almost complete protection against serious illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 5 to 11-year-olds", it said.
"Side effects tended to occur less frequently than in adolescents or adults. They included pain at the injection site and tiredness, or less frequently headache, aching limbs or fever," the agency added.