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This Article is From Jan 13, 2022

Coronavirus Highlights: Sharp Surge In COVID-19 Infections In India, Says Ministry

The active cases rose to 9,55,319, the highest in 209 days, while the death count climbed to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 9 am stated.

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India News Posted by Sasha Gopalakrishnan

Updated : January 13, 2022 6:08 am IST

Covid cases in India: The active cases comprise 2.65 per cent of the total infections. (File)

New Delhi:

A total of 115 people died across the world due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 so far, out of which, one death has been reported in India, Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Addressing the Health ministry briefing Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, said, "Total 115 confirmed deaths globally due to Omicron and 1 death in India."

"Omicron has a substantial growth advantage over Delta as per WHO...Data from South Africa, the UK, Canada, Denmark suggests a reduced risk of hospitalization for Omicron compared to Delta," Mr Agarwal said. Mentioning a steep surge in coronavirus cases across India, he said, "A sharp surge in COVID cases in India with the active cases 9,55,319 today. Emerging states of concern (reporting surge in COVID cases) are Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Gujarat."

"Emerging states of concerns reporting high positive rates- Maharashtra with a rate positivity rate of 22.39 per cent, West Bengal 32.18 per cent, Delhi 23.1 per cent and Uttar Pradesh 4.47 per cent," he added.

India logged 1,94,720 lakh new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases in India to 3,60,70,510, of which 4,868 cases are of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated today.

The active cases rose to 9,55,319, the highest in 209 days, while the death count climbed to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 9 am stated.

The active cases comprise 2.65 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 96.01 per cent, the ministry said.

Here are the Highlights on coronavirus cases in India:

Jan 12, 2022 23:44 (IST)

9,000 CISF personnel get precautionary Covid jabs

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that guards the country's major civil airports and other vital installations has provided the precautionary or booster Covid vaccine jabs to more than 9,000 personnel since these doses were launched countrywide on January 10, a senior officer said on Wednesday.

Out of these, 2,500 personnel belong to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) security wing, its largest unit in the country in terms of number of personnel deployed.

The about 1.62 lakh personnel strength central force that functions under the Union home ministry has deployed more than 12,000 male and female personnel in the DMRC unit.

The force, according to official data recorded till Tuesday, has the highest number of active coronavirus cases, at 1,550, among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) that includes the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB apart from the NSG and the NDRF.

The total active cases in these forces are 4,539 with the CRPF having 1,198 infections, BSF 729, SSB 555, ITBP 311, NDRF 157 and NSG 39.

"The CISF has already vaccinated over 9,000 of its personnel with the booster dose across the country to enhance protection against coronavirus infection.

Jan 12, 2022 23:30 (IST)

1,700 Delhi Police personnel tested COVID-19 positive from January -12

A whopping 1,700 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus infection since January 1, officials said on Wednesday, adding that a special camp has been organised to administer booster doses to staffers of the police headquarters.

The Delhi Police force comprises over 80,000 personnel, police said.

"A total of 1,700 personnel of the force have tested positive for the infection from January 1 to January 12. All of them are doing fine and are under quarantine. They will be joining duty after recovery," a senior police officer said.

A special camp was organised for administering booster shots to frontline workers of the Delhi Police, the staffers working at its headquarters on Jai Singh Marg, they said.

"Special arrangements for administering precaution dose (booster) of Covid vaccine was organised from 11:30 am onwards at officers' lounge on the ground floor of the PHQ. This initiative was taken so that staffers like guards among others deployed at our headquarters do not have to go outside during their duty hours to get booster shots.

Jan 12, 2022 23:19 (IST)

COVID-19: Delhi directs 20 schools to open vaccination centres for children in 15-18 age group

The Directorate of Education in Delhi directed a total of 20 schools wherein School Health Clinics are operational to open COVID-19 vaccination centres for the age group of 15 to 18 years, said an official statement on Wednesday.

"All DDEs (districts) and DDEs (Zones) are hereby directed to open temporary vaccination centres for students in the age group of 15 - 18 years in the 20 schools wherein School Health Clinics are operational," said the statement issued by Delhi Directorate of Education.

It directed the officers to coordinate with the district magistrates in order to set up the vaccination centres.

"Separate sufficient space shall be provided by HoS for vaccination centres," it added.

Jan 12, 2022 23:07 (IST)

With 66 lakh doses on Wednesday, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crosses 154.5 crore

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 154.50 crore on Wednesday with more than 66 lakh vaccine doses being administered till 7 pm, the Union Health Ministry said.

More than 26,19,670 precaution doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities since January 10.

Also, 2,96,94,734 first doses have been given to beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group so far.

As many as 66,77,685 doses were administered by 7 pm on Wednesday. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2 last year.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1, 2021 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1, 2021.

Jan 12, 2022 22:39 (IST)

Odisha issues guidelines for local festivals amid rising COVID-19 cases

Odisha Government on Wednesday issued guidelines for local festivals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Special Relief Commissioner, Pradeep Jena has directed to Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, All Collectors, All Superintendents of Police and Municipal Commissioners to strictly enforce the stipulations.

The order release from the government informed about prohibition of congregations at river banks, ghats, ponds, seashore or near other water bodies to take bath.

Prohibition of organisation/celebration mela, Prohibition of religious congregations/ celebrations, it read.

Religious rituals are allowed in religious places/ places of worship with bare minimum priests, servitors and staff.

If required, considering local conditions, appropriate restrictions may be imposed on the entry of devotees into churches, temples, mosques, religious places, places of worship and in the celebrations in respective places, the order said.

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Jan 12, 2022 22:18 (IST)

Maharashtra: Pune Launches "Covid-Free Village" Contest, Winner To Get Rs 50 Lakh

Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, Maharashtra's Pune district launched the "Covid-Free Village" Contest to curb the spread of COVID-19 and its Omicron variant. Read here

Jan 12, 2022 21:47 (IST)

No plan to impose lockdown in Gurugram district: Deputy Commissioner

Gurugram will not be imposing lockdown any time soon in the district, Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg said on Wednesday.

He said the workers in the district were not leaving for their hometowns and there was no need to panic.

Mr Garg said production units and industries were running regularly in the district and the rumours being spread about workers going to their homes were baseless.

Daulatabad Industrial Area Association Patron Vinay Gupta said that industrial units are being operated regularly in his area and workers are also coming on duty.

He also said rumours of workers returning to their states are false and misleading.

Deepak Maini, state secretary, Federation of Indian Industry, said industries are running properly in their area and there is no problem of workers.

Jan 12, 2022 21:31 (IST)

Ministry of AYUSH issues revised guidelines, advisory to fight against COVID-19

As India witnesses a steep surge in COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of AYUSH (MoA) on Wednesday issued revised guidelines and advisory to fight against coronavirus infection.

In the advisory, MoA said, "People should use Ayuraksha kit which has chyawanprash, 6pgm once a day, Ayush Kwath 75ml once a day, Samshamani Vati 500 mg twice a day, Anutaila one to two drops nasal application in each nostril once a day."

The ministry also recommends a few medicines against coronavirus infection. "AYUSH-64 (2 tablets of 500 mg twice in a day in asymptomatic COVID-19, 2 tablets of 500 mg thrice a day in mild to moderate COVID), Kabasura Kudineer (5 gm twice in a day)," the ministry said.

For COVID-19 Prophylaxis, it recommends Arsenicum album 30C, Khareema Marwareed medicines.

This came after the Union Health ministry addressed a press conference on the COVID-19 management in the national capital today.

Jan 12, 2022 21:08 (IST)

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chairs meeting with Tamil Nadu health officials, discusses COVID-19 situation

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday chaired a meeting with the Regional Director of Directorate General of Health Services and other health officials in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and discussed the COVID-19 situation.

"Chaired a meeting with the Regional Director of Directorate General of Health Services, National Centre for Disease Control officers, Deputy Director of DCGI, Regional Head of ICMR and Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Discussed various aspects relating to COVID-19 situation," the minister tweeted.

Mr Mandaviya, who is on a brief visit to the state, earlier in the day, inspected the COVID-19 war room, 108 emergency control centre in Tamil Nadu and praised the local administration for doing "great work" in controlling the spread of the pandemic.

"During my visit to Tamil Nadu, carried out an inspection of control rooms, COVID War Room, 108 control centre, and PSA Oxygen plants established under PM CARES, at DMS Compound Teynampet, Chennai. The local administration is doing great work towards defeating the COVID-19," he tweeted.

Jan 12, 2022 20:27 (IST)

Over 21,000 new COVID cases in Karnataka; 15,617 from Bengaluru alone

Reporting yet another spike, Karnataka on Wednesday registered 21,390 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 10 fatalities, taking the tally to 30,99,519 and the deaths to 38,389.

The state has been witnessing a steady surge in cases since the last week of December and had reported 14,473 new infections yesterday.

Of the new cases on Wednesday, 15,617 were from Bengaluru Urban that saw 874 people being discharged and 6 deaths.

The total number of active cases across the state is now 93,099.

There were 1,541 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,68,002, the health department bulletin said.

While the positivity rate for the day stood at 10.96 per cent, the case fatality rate (CFR) was 0.04 per cent.

Of the ten deaths, six are from Bengaluru Urban and one each from Ballari, Dakshina Kannada, Kalaburagi and Mysuru.

Apart from Bengaluru Urban, Tumakuru recorded the second highest of 594 new cases, Mysuru 524, Dakshina Kannada 519, Hassan 409 and Udupi 361.

Jan 12, 2022 20:08 (IST)

"Omicron Not Common Cold": Centre Counters Its Epidemiologist
Omicron is not common cold and it is a misconception that is spreading, the government's top Covid adviser K Paul said today, a day after an expert called Omicron infections as mild as a cold and said everybody would likely catch it. Read here

Jan 12, 2022 19:52 (IST)

Odisha registered 67 new cases of Omicron

Odisha on Wednesday registered 67 new cases of Omicron, the highest so far, taking the state's tally in the new variant to 170, a health department official said.

The Institute of Life Science (ILS), Bhubaneswar, informed the state health and family welfare department about detection of the new Omicron cases after genome sequencing of the samples.

The ILS is the lone laboratory in the state where genome sequencing facility is available, he said.

The preliminary report received from ILS, Bhubaneswar, indicated that most of the new Omicron cases are local contacts with no foreign travel history and that the variant has started spreading in the locality, he said.

Director of Public Health Niranjan Mishra said the state has procured specially designed kit for quick Omicron testing as genome sequencing requires more time for detection.

The state has so far reported the death of one Omicron infected woman and recovery of five other patients from the variant.

Odisha had reported its first Omicron case on December 21 and the tally has reached 170 in 23 days.

As of Wednesday the national tally of Omicron variant of COVID stands at 4868, according to the union health ministry.

Jan 12, 2022 19:10 (IST)

Current COVID-19 wave in Pune may peak by Jan-end or Feb first week: Official

Pune district in Maharashtra might see the ongoing wave of the COVID-19 cases reach its peak by the last week of January or the first week of February, and hence the administration is taking all steps to ramp up the health infrastructure to tackle the situation, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Pune on Tuesday recorded 6,110 coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 21 per cent, taking the district's tally to 12,01,439, while the deaths reached 19,271.

Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao said the district is currently witnessing an upward trend as far as the number of infection cases is concerned and the authorities are ensuring that all preventive and precautionary steps are being taken.

Asked about reports which indicate that the COVID-19 curve is flattening in Mumbai and Delhi, Mr Rao said that Pune is three weeks behind Mumbai in terms the pace of infection.

"It is too early to say that it has reached a plateau, but if we consider that it has reached a plateau, I expect that maybe the last week of January or first week of February, we (Pune) would also reach to the status where Mumbai is today," he said.

Mr Rao also said that if by the end of January or mid-February, Mumbai is completely safe and the situation there normalises, then by the end of February or March, a similar situation could be seen in Pune district.

Jan 12, 2022 18:48 (IST)

Nearly 2,000 new COVID-19 cases in Noida, over 1,500 in Ghaziabad

Gautam Buddh Nagar on Wednesday logged 1,992 COVID-19 infections that pushed its tally of active cases to 9,300 - the highest for any district in Uttar Pradesh, official data showed.

Neighbouring Ghaziabad's active case tally reached 7,665 as it recorded 1,526 new infections, the data issued by the Uttar Pradesh Health Department for a 24-hour period showed.

The two districts together account for around 30 per cent of the active cases of coronavirus in the state (57,355), according to official statistics.

During the period, 106 COVID-19 infected patients recovered in Gautam Buddh Nagar and 188 in Ghaziabad, the data showed.

So far, Gautam Buddh Nagar has recorded 468 deaths and Ghaziabad 461 deaths related to COVID-19 pandemic which started in 2020, according to the official figures.

Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday logged 13,681 new cases of COVID-19 which pushed its active tally of infections to 57,355, the data showed.

Jan 12, 2022 18:36 (IST)

18 people in IIT-Jammu test positive for COVID-19

As many as 18 people including students, staff, and faculty have tested positive for COVID-19, said Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Jammu in an official release on Wednesday. The RTPRC test was conducted on 300 people last week on the campus.

Following this, the campus is under sanitisation and the COVID-19 positive people are under quarantine.

"The IIT Jammu will conduct online classes and the staff and faculty members will continue to work from home until further instruction", read the official release.

The administration informed that the whole IIT Jammu is 100 per cent vaccinated and are conducting periodic COVID-19 tests to combat the increasing COVID cases in the state.

In Jammu and Kashmir, out of the fresh cases recorded on Tuesday, 640 cases were from the Jammu division and 508 were from the Kashmir division, as per Tuesday's bulletin.

Jan 12, 2022 18:17 (IST)

Active Covid-19 cases cross 10,000 in Andhra Pradesh

The surge of Covid-19 cases continued as Andhra Pradesh added 3,205 afresh on Wednesday, taking the active caseload up to 10,119.

In 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday, 281 infected people got cured but no fresh deaths were reported in the state, the latest bulletin said.

The gross Covid-19 positives now stood at 20,87,879. The total recoveries touched 20,63,255 and deaths 14,505, the bulletin said.

The number of active cases shot up by 2,924 in 24 hours.

Visakhapatnam district registered 695 fresh cases, followed by Chittoor with 607.

East Godavari added 274, Srikakulam 268, Guntur 224, Krishna 217, Vizianagaram 212, SPS Nellore 203, Anantapuramu 160 and Kurnool 123 new infections. Prakasam and West Godavari districts logged 90 each while Kadapa reported 42 new cases in 24 hours.

Jan 12, 2022 17:31 (IST)

Sikkim's new Covid cases rise 124 per cent in a day

Sikkim on Wednesday reported 322 fresh Covid-19 cases, an increase of 124 per cent in a single day, pushing the tally to 33,351, according to a health department bulletin.

The small Himalayan state had registered 198 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, 86 more than the previous day's count.

The number of active cases also jumped to 796 on Wednesday from 494 on Tuesday, the bulletin said.

It said that 31,747 Covid patients have recovered from the disease while 398 others have migrated out.

The deaths remained unchanged at 410 with no fatality due to Covid-19 being reported in the state in the last 24 hours.

Jan 12, 2022 17:14 (IST)

COVID-19: Raigad district sees over 1,900 cases; active tally now 3,113

Raigad district of Maharashtra has logged 1,932 new coronavirus positive cases, the administration said on Wednesday.

With these cases reported on Tuesday, the coastal district's infection tally so far this month has reached 10,273, Raigad's health department said in a statement.

Most of the patients are not seriously affected by the infection, it said, adding that 369 persons have been hospitalised at different places in the district and 34 of them are on oxygen support, while 40 others are in intensive care units (ICUs).

Areas under the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) reported 1,242 cases on Tuesday, while Panvel's rural parts saw 213 cases. Uran recorded 27 cases, Khalapur 69, Karjat 50, Pen 144, Alibaug 53, Mangaon 48, Roha 25, Shrivardhan eight and Poladpur one, the administration said.

Jan 12, 2022 17:11 (IST)

Strictly follow COVID-19 norms: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Gangasagar pilgrims

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged pilgrims visiting Gangasagar Mela to strictly follow COVID-19 guidelines and asked her administration not to send too many people to Sagar Island for the annual fair.

She requested the pilgrims not to overcrowd the vehicles to reach Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas, wear double masks and cooperate with the administration, and seek police's help if needed.

"I request the administration not to send too many people to Gangasagar Mela. I urge the pilgrims not to overcrowd vehicles to reach Sagar Island," she said while inaugurating the fair at Outram Ghat.

"I welcome the pilgrims coming to West Bengal from other states and request them to wear double masks and strictly follow the COVID-19 guidelines," she added.

A Calcutta High Court division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Kesong Doma Bhutia allowed the annual fair to take place from January 8 and 16, and ordered that the entire Sagar Island be declared a notified area.

The bench also constituted a two-member committee comprising former Justice Samapti Chatterjee and member secretary of the West Bengal Legal Services Authority to recommend the state government to ban the entry of pilgrims to the island in case of violation of safety norms.

Jan 12, 2022 16:53 (IST)

All symptomatic cases including all risk contacts need to be tested: Medical Body Expert

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