COVID-19 Highlights: Number of active cases in India declined to 91,456. (File)
Maharashtra reported two more fully vaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, with both having Dubai travel history, taking the tally in the country to 40 on Monday.
This comes a day after Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh reported their first Omicron case.
With this, Omicron has been detected in Maharashtra (20), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Gujarat (3), Kerala (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and Union Territories of Delhi (2) and Chandigarh (1).
Both the patients, including a woman, detected in Maharashtra are asymptomatic and were fully vaccinated, the health department added.
"Two new cases have been found to be infected with Omicron, according to a report released today by the National Institute of Virology - one from Latur and one from Pune," the state health department said.
Meanwhile, Britain on Monday confirmed what is thought to be the first confirmed death after infection with the Omicron variant, as the country launched an ambitious Covid booster shot programme to stop the virus spiralling out of control.
Here are the LIVE Updates on Coronavirus cases in India:
COVID-19 News Update: Dutch Covid Curbs Extended Through Christmas HolidaysThe Netherlands will extend COVID-19 restrictions through the Christmas holidays, including the early closure of schools, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday, according to news agency Reuters. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is making up roughly 1% of new infections in the country, "is a reason to be concerned and to be cautious," Rutte said in a televised comments.
Elementary schools will close a week early to try to prevent children from infecting older family members during Christmas as hospitals struggle with a wave of COVID-19 patients. Booster vaccine shots to improve immunity against the Omicron variant will be offered to all Dutch adults before the end of January, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said.
Delhi's 4 New Omicron Patients Asymptomatic: LNJP Hospital MDDr Suresh Kumar, the MD of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, said that the four new patients of Omicron variant of COVID-19 reported in Delhi are asymptomatic, adding that two of them had come from UK and other two were close contacts. Read here.
Passengers From 'At-Risk' Nations Must Pre-Book On-Arrival RT-PCR TestPassengers coming from 'at-risk' countries to six majorIndian airports have to compulsorily pre-book for the on-arrival RT-PCR test from December 20 onwards, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Tuesday. The six airports are in Delhi, Mumbai Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Read more.
COVID-19 India News: Sikkim Reports 5 New Cases, Zero DeathFive more people tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, taking the state's caseload to 32,436, a health department bulletin on Tuesday, according to news agency PTI. All five cases were registered in East Sikkim district. The Covid-19 death count remained unchanged at 406, as no fresh fatality was reported in the past 24 hours. Sikkim currently has 193 active cases, while 341 others have migrated to other states, the bulletin said. Altogether 31,496 coronavirus patients have recovered from the disease. The state tested 288 samples for Covid-19 on Tuesday, taking the total number of tests done so far to 27,5315. Sikkim's Covid-19 daily positivity rate stood at 1.9 per cent, the bulletin said.
Delhi records 45 new cases, zero deaths Delhi logged 45 fresh coronavirus cases at a positivity rate of 0.09 per cent and zero deaths due to the infection, according to data shared by the health department on Tuesday.
Delhi has recorded two deaths due to COVID-19 so far in December. It had logged seven deaths due to the viral disease in November, four in October and five in September.
With the new cases, the city's infection tally climbed to 14,41,793. Of these, over 14.16 lakh patients have recovered from the disease, the health department bulletin stated.
The coronavirus total fatalities stood at 25,100, it said.
Covid Task Force chief pitches for quickly adaptable vaccine platforms
Amid concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus, COVID Task Force chief VK Paul on Tuesday said India should have vaccine platforms that are 'adaptable quickly' with changing nature of the variants.
Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Paul said he hopes that COVID-19 in India is possibly moving in the direction of endemicity, where there is a low or moderate level of transmission going on.
"There is a potential scenario that our vaccines may become ineffective in emerging situations. In the wake of the last three weeks of living with Omicron, we have seen how such doubts have come up some of them may be genuine, we still do not have the final picture," he said.
2,410 COVID-19 vaccine doses with an expiry date in December this year: Centre
As of December 9, there are 2,410 COVID-19 vaccine doses with an expiry date in December this year, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Data on the expiry of COVID-19 vaccines at private hospitals is not maintained, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply. Centrally, however, the Government of India closely monitors COVID-19 vaccine stocks in states and Union Territories so as to ensure their optimal utilization, she said.
The COVID-19 vaccine stock which has not been utilized in private hospitals and nearing expiry are usually taken up for redistribution by respective state government, for its timely utilization, Pawar said in response to a question on the government policy to deal with vaccine beyond expiry date.
Coronavirus Live Updates: Kerala logs 3,377 new COVID-19 cases, 174 related deaths Kerala on Tuesday reported 3,377 new infections and 174 deaths, which took the caseload to 51,88,587 and the death count to 43,344.
Of the 174 deaths, 28 were recorded over the last few days and 146 were designated as COVID-19 deaths, after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, a state government release said.
With 4,073 more people recovering from the virus since Monday, the total recoveries reached 51,21,001 and the active cases dropped to 35,410, it said.
Brazil Requires Covid-19 Vaccination For Arriving TravellersBrazil on Monday began requiring a Covid-19 vaccination certificate for foreign travelers arriving in the country, a move initially blocked by President Jair Bolsonaro's government.
A Supreme Court justice ruled Saturday that proof of vaccination would be mandatory to enter Brazil, in an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The national health regulator Anvisa said it had "notified this Monday the border posts, especially at airports, about the immediate compliance with the decision of the Supreme Federal Court that determines the requirement of the vaccination certificate for travelers entering the country."
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: 7 Active COVID-19 Cases In Andamans
Seven COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a health bulletin said on Tuesday. The Union territory's caseload remained unchanged at 7,698 as no fresh infection was registered, it said. A total of 7,562 people have recovered from the disease so far, including one in the last 24 hours, while 129 patients have succumbed to the infection to date.
Norway Announces New Covid Curbs Amid Omicron SpreadNorway on Monday announced new Covid curbs less than a week after tightening restrictions amid the spread of the Omicron variant and soaring case numbers and hospital admissions.
The move came after Norway's health authority warned the country could record between 90,000 and 300,000 daily coronavirus cases and up to 200 hospital admissions per day in three weeks without more measures.
Norway has registered record numbers of cases and hospital admissions in recent days, detecting 958 Omicron infections on Monday, of which 472 were in the capital Oslo.
Returnee From South Africa Infected With Omicron, Gujarat Tally Reaches 4A 42-year-old man from Surat who recently returned from South Africa tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Monday, making him the first such case from Surat and fourth in Gujarat, a health department official said.
Earlier, three cases of the Omicron variant infection were reported from Jamnagar in Gujarat, including a 72-year-old NRI man who had returned from Zimbabwe, his wife and brother-in-law.
The 42-year-old patient found infected with the Omicron strain is a businessman based in Surat.