About 1,525 people in India have contracted the Omicron variant since the first case was reported in late November, data from Health Ministry showed. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state with 460 cases.
The country also reported a 21 per cent jump in new Covid cases as it reported 27,553 infections today. About 284 people died due to the virus during the period, the data showed.
Twenty-three states in India have reported the fast-spreading Omicron variant so far. Maharashtra, which has reported the most number of COVID-10 cases, has 460 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi with 351 infections.
Delhi recorded a massive 50 per cent jump in coronavirus cases on Saturday, at 2,716, with around 3.64 percent of COVID-19 tests returning positive - a high positivity rate considered one of the first signs of an impending wave of infections.
The city also recorded one death.
Meanwhile, Cinema halls and sports complexes will be closed in Gurgaon and four other cities in Haryana as part of restrictions imposed on Saturday by the state government in view of a surge in coronavirus cases and the emergence of Omicron variant. Schools are also closed till January 12.
India saw 22,775 new infections being reported on Saturday, while the number of deaths climbed to 4,81,080 with 220 daily fatalities, the data stated.
The active cases comprised 0.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.32 per cent, the health ministry said.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus cases in India:
Restaurants, Marriage Halls To Operate At 50 Per Cent Capacity In Chandigarh
Avoid Mixing-Up Of Vaccines: Health Minister To States On 15-18 Age Group VaccinationUnion Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said states, union territories should take necessary measures, including setting up separate vaccination centres, to avoid mixing-up of Covid vaccines during administration of shots to those in 15-18 age group.
In the past 2 days BMC has changed the reporting method: added number of asymptomatic patients/ hosp beds/O2 beds being occupied to avoid unnecessary panic.
- Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) January 2, 2022
Fear and panic kept aside, extreme caution and Covid Appropriate Behaviour is a must as we are in the midst of the 3rd wave https://t.co/au3MmWnhpf
Maharashtra May Report 2 Lakh Active Covid Cases By January 3rd Week: Top Health Official
CoWIN Vaccine Registration: Coronavirus: Day Before Covid Jabs For Teens Start, Over 3.5 Lakh Register On CoWINA surge of Omicron infections could see Israel reaching herd immunity, the country's top health official said on Sunday as daily cases continued to climb, reported Reuters.
The highly transmissible Omicron variant has brought a surge in coronavirus cases across the globe. Worldwide infections have hit a record high, with an average of just over a million cases detected a day between Dec. 24 and 30, according to Reuters data. Deaths, however, have not risen in kind, bringing hope the new variant is less lethal.
Until late December, Israel managed to stave off Omicron to some degree but with infection rates now gaining pace, daily cases are expected to reach record highs in the coming three weeks. This could result in herd immunity, said director-general of the health ministry, Nachman Ash.
Do not panic. This was the major focus of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's address today as the national capital saw a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases. The city has also reported the second-highest cases of the highly transmissible Omicron strain after Maharashtra.
"COVID-19 cases are increasing rapidly in Delhi, but there is no need to panic. Currently, the active cases in the city are 6,360. Today, 3,100 new cases are expected. Only 246 hospital beds were occupied yesterday and all the cases are mild and asymptomatic," Mr Kejriwal said, adding data shows that the impact of the rise in cases is far lesser than what it was during the second wave.
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.
Uttarakhand | 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
- ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 2, 2022
New Australian COVID-19 cases dipped on Sunday as testing slowed over a holiday weekend, but remained well over 30,000 and hospitalisations rose further in New South Wales as concerns grow about potential strains on the national health system, reported Reuters.
Newly diagnosed cases in New South Wales, the most populous state, dropped to 18,278 from 22,577 the day before as the number of tests conducted on New Year's Day dropped by a quarter, health department figures showed.
Europe has recorded over 100 million coronavirus cases, more than a third of all infections worldwide, since the start of the pandemic, an AFP tally Saturday showed.
The continent has once again become the pandemic's epicentre in recent months, and is battling an upsurge of cases spurred on by the highly transmissible Omicron strain of the virus.
The European region, including 52 countries and territories from the Atlantic coast to Azerbaijan and Russia, has recorded 100,074,753 infections of Covid-19 over the past two years, an AFP tally of official figures showed at 1845 GMT.
France will relax Covid isolation rules from Monday, the government announced, in a bid to ease their impact on society and the economy, reported AFP.
Fully vaccinated people who test positive will only have to isolate for seven days regardless of the coronavirus variant they were infected with, but can leave quarantine after five days if they show an antigen or negative PCR test.
There will be no quarantine for fully inoculated individuals who have a close contact test positive.
However, people must respect protective measures and "undergo regular testing", health minister Olivier Veran said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche.
Until now, those who tested positive in France had to isolate for 10 days with their close contracts also quarantined for a week.
A huge number of people were seen at public places in Delhi on the first day of New Year on Saturday with few wearing masks and even fewer showing any caution amid growing coronavirus cases due to the new coronavirus variant Omicron.
Long queues of commuters were seen outside Rajiv Chowk Metro Station in Connaught Place despite curbs in the national capital.
New York state shattered its record for new Covid-19 infections, reporting 85,476 cases on Saturday as the omicron variant continues its lightning spread, reported Bloomberg.
That number compares with a daily average of just below 6,700 new cases on Dec. 1, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The tally on Saturday was almost 9,000 higher than the day before.
