India Covid-19 Cases: The positivity rate fell to 5%.
India reported 67,597 fresh Covid cases in India, 19.4% lower than yesterday. The positivity rate fell to 5%.
After a surge of infections in January led by the new Covid variant Omicron, cases are on a decline in several states in India.
Daily COVID-19 infections in Karnataka dropped to 6,151 yesterday, taking the total positive cases to 39,02,309.
West Bengal's COVID-19 graph maintained its downward trend registering 641 new cases compared to 835 the previous day, taking the tally to 20,06,513. The maximum number of 105 new cases of the disease was reported in North 24 Parganas district, while there were 75 cases in the city, a bulletin issued by it said.
Delhi reported 1,151 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths, while the positivity rate rose slightly to 2.62 percent, according to data shared by the health department.
Here are the Highlights on coronavirus cases in India:
No State, UT Reported Death Due To Oxygen Shortage Amid Lockdown Last One Year
Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that a few states and Union territories had responded to the Centre's request for data and none reported death due to oxygen shortage during lockdown in the last one year.
She was responding to a question on the number of fatalities due to oxygen shortage during the lockdown in the last one year and whether all the states have submitted data regarding death due to oxygen shortage.
Ms Pawar informed the House that health is a state subject but the Government of India has maintained data of total cases and deaths reported by states and Union Territories on a regular basis.
Accordingly, the Union government requested states and Union Territories to furnish the details as asked for.
"Few states and Union Territories have responded and none of the state and UT has reported death due to oxygen shortage," she said in the written reply.
Delhi Reports 1,114 Cases Of COVID-19
Delhi reported 1,114 new cases of COVID-19 during the last 24 hours with the positivity rate dipping to 2.28 per cent, said the state health department on Tuesday.
As per the bulletin issued by the Health Department, a total of 48,792 samples were tested during the last 24 hours.
With this, the total case count of COVID-19 in the national capital has gone up to 18,46,198.
During the last 24 hours, 2,079 people recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries in the state to 18,13,280.
12 people lost their lives to the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. The deaths in Delhi due to the virus currently stands at 26,010.
Over 3,000 COVID-19 Cases In Rajasthan
Rajasthan on Tuesday reported 3,479 fresh COVID-19 cases and 16 more deaths due to the viral disease, according to health department data. Jaipur reported 1,140 fresh cases, Jodhpur 300, Udaipur 221, Ganganagar 174, Alwar 120, Kota 119 and Bhilwara 112, the data showed.
Of the latest deaths, four were reported from Jaipur; two each from Bikaner and Jodhpur; and one each from Ajmer, Alwar, Baran, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Kota, Sikar and Sirohi.
Maharashtra Logs 6,107 New COVID-19 Cases, Active Tally Drops Below 1 Lakh
Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 6,107 new coronavirus cases, 329 less than the day ago, and 57 fresh deaths linked to the infection, while 16,035 more patients recovered from the disease, the state health department said.
With these additions, the overall tally of COVID-19 cases increased to 78,16,243, while the deaths jumped to 1,43,155, the department said in a bulletin.
As per the bulletin, the number of recovered cases in Maharashtra increased to 75,73,069 after 16,035 patients were discharged during the day, leaving the state with 96,069 active cases.
On Monday, the state had recorded 6,436 new cases and 24 fatalities.
According to the department, till date, a total of 3,334 patients infected with the highly contagious Omicron variant have been reported in the state. Out of these, 2,023 patients have been discharged following a negative RT-PCR test.
Delhi Reports 1,114 Covid Cases, Positivity Rate Falls To 2.28%, Marginal Drop In Cases
Madhya Pradesh Reports 3,083 COVID-19 Cases; Positivity Rate Dips To 4.6%
The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 10,12,781 on Tuesday after the detection of 3,083 new cases, while four deaths in the last 24 hours took the deaths to 10,668, a health department official said.
The positivity rate dipped to 4.6 per cent during the day from 5.5 on Monday, he said.
The recovery count stood at 9,64,970 after 6,527 people were discharged during the day, leaving the state with an active tally of 37,143, he added.
Bhopal and Indore, the two worst coronavirus-hit cities of Madhya Pradesh, registered 610 and 335 cases, respectively, in the last 24 hours, he said.
Mumbai Reports Fewer Than 500 COVID-19 Cases For Second Straight Day
Mumbai reported 447 new COVID-19 cases and only one fresh fatality on Tuesday, as per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) bulletin. The tally of infections jumped to 10,52,176 and deaths to 16,667.
Mumbai logged fewer than 500 cases on the second day in a row. A day before, the city had reported 356 cases and five fatalities.
Mumbai on Tuesday also registered the lowest number of fatalities since January 2 this year when no death on account of the pandemic had been recorded in the city.
The city's positivity rate is 1.29 per cent.
In the last 24 hours, 34,543 COVID-19 tests, nearly 5,000 fewer than the previous day, were carried out in the city, raising the tally of tests conducted so far to 1,56,13,824.
With 798 more patients being discharged from hospitals, the number of recovered cases rose to 10,27,891.
Over 28 lakh covid vaccine doses have been administrated to pregnant women till Feb 2: Government
As per the information on Co-WIN, 28,22,459 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to pregnant women till February 2, Rajya Sabha was informed Tuesday.
Out of 28,22,459 vaccine doses, 16,53,768 beneficiaries have received first dose and 11,68,691 women have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply.
The government is aware of the WHO's interim recommendation on COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant and lactating women in June 2021. States and UTs have been provided detailed guidance on preparing counselling and vaccination plan for them, she said.
A communication strategy is in place which is implemented across all states and Union Territories with a focus to sustain vaccine confidence, the minister said.
Kerala Reports 29,471 COVID-19 Cases
Daily COVID-19 cases in Kerala saw a slight increase on Tuesday, compared to a day ago, with the state recording 29,471 fresh infections which raised the caseload to 63,23,378.
The southern state had reported 22,524 COVID-19 cases on Monday.
Kerala on Tuesday also reported 824 deaths which raised the total fatalities in Kerala to 59,939, according to a government release.
Of the deaths, 28 were reported in the last 24 hours, 205 were those which occurred in the last few days but were not recorded due to late receipt of documents and 591 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, the release said.
With 46,393 more people recovering from the virus since Monday, the total recoveries reached 59,79,002.
Omicron Dominant COVID-19 Variant In Country: Government
Omicron variant is the dominant variant in the country presently and the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the country is showing a sustained declining trend since January 21, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
With the reporting of Omicron, a highly mutated variant of SARSCoV-2 virus and its classification as a Variant of Concern (VoC) by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Union Ministry of Health revised its 'Guidelines for international arrivals', Mandaviya said in a written reply.
"Omicron variant is the dominant variant in the country presently. The current surge of COVID-19 cases in the country is showing a sustained declining trend since January 21, 2022," he said.
Following a risk based approach, provisions for mandatory pre-departure and post arrival RT-PCR testing on day 8th of arrival and a mandatory home quarantine for 7 days have been made in the present guidelines for all international travellers to India.
The Ministry of Health continues to provide technical guidance for managing various aspects of COVID-19 including containment and surveillance, testing, clinical management protocols, post-COVID sequale, etc., the minister said.
COVID-19 Curbs Eased In Lakshadweep Islands
With COVID-19 cases declining, the Lakshadweep administration has decided to ease some restrictions imposed in the islands.
The administration said no COVID-19 test result was now required for inter-island travel for those who have taken both vaccine doses 14 days prior to movement.
Inter-island travel was hitherto restricted to those carrying RT-PCR/True Nat negative certificates from the health department.
It said that all passenger ships/HSCs under the Lakshadweep Administration can operate with 100 per cent passenger capacity.
The island administration had on January 21 suspended classes and restricted the number of passengers in the ships to and from the island due to the worsening pandemic situation.
Russia Confirms 165,643 New COVID-19 Cases, 698 DeathsRussia has confirmed 165,643 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 171,905 the day before, and 698 deaths, the federal response center said on Tuesday.
"As many as 165,643 new COVID-19 cases were detected. In the past 24 hours, 698 people have died," the center said.
Hong Kong Further Tightens Its Tough Covid RulesHong Kong will limit public gatherings to two people and close sites such as churches and hair salons, leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday, as the Asian financial hub battles a growing coronavirus outbreak that has caused record infections.
Existing social distancing measures will be extended to Feb. 24, Lam told a media briefing. These include a ban on dining in restaurants after 6 p.m. and the closure of gymnasiums and cinemas.
COVID-19: Mizoram Registers 2,239 New Recoveries In Past 24 HoursWith 11,767 active COVID-19 cases reported in Mizoram, the state registered 623 deaths so far informed the state Department of Information and Public Relation on Monday.
With the 2239 new recoveries, the state lodged a total of 1,73,495 recoveries and the recovery rate went up to 93.33 per cent.
After Canada, New Zealand Truckers Block Streets To Protest Covid CurbsA convoy of trucks and campervans blocked streets near New Zealand's parliament in Wellington Tuesday to protest against Covid restrictions and vaccinations, inspired by a similar demonstration in Canada.
Plastered with messages such as "give us back our freedom" and "coercion is not consent", hundreds of vehicles parked in streets surrounding the parliament building known as The Beehive.
Hundreds more drove around the city centre with their horns blaring as more than 1,000 protesters on foot listened to speeches.
Aadhaar Not Mandatory For Covid Vaccination, Centre Tells Supreme CourtAfter the Central government told the Supreme Court on Monday that submitting Aadhaar card details is not a mandatory pre-condition on the CO-WIN portal for the COVID-19 vaccination, the top court asked the authorities not to insist on asking people for Aadhaar card for vaccination.
While disposing of a PIL claiming some centres insist on a Aadhaar card for vaccination, a Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked the authorities to not insist on the production of the Aadhaar card as the only proof of identification for the purpose of administering COVID-19 vaccination.
Info On Bodies Dumped In Ganga During Second Wave "Not Available": CentreThere is no information available about the number of dead bodies found floating on the Ganga during the peak of the second Covid wave, the government said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Junior Jal Shakti Minister Bishweswar Tudu said: "Information regarding number of COVID-19 related dead bodies estimated to have been dumped in the river Ganga is not available."
The admission was in response to a question from Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien, who also sought information on steps taken to dispose of the bodies in accordance with Covid protocols.