Coronavirus Highlights: 90,928 Fresh COVID-19 Cases In India

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is killing people across the globe and should not be dismissed as mild, the World Health Organization insisted Thursday.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the record numbers of people catching the new variant -- which is rapidly out-competing the previously-dominant Delta variant in many countries -- meant hospitals were being overwhelmed.

"While Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorised as mild," Tedros told a press conference.

"Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalising people and it is killing people," he explained.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday said the COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms can stay in home isolation instead of institutional quarantine or hospital, reported news agency PTI. Amid an exponential rise in cases in Mumbai, BMC also reduced the minimum period of home isolation to seven days from the earlier 14 days. According to fresh guidelines issued by the BMC on Thursday night, home isolation will continue for at least seven days from testing positive. It can end after the patient does not report fever for three days in a row.

The number of new COVID-19 cases increased exponentially by 71 per cent globally during the week December 27-January 2 as compared to the previous week, while the number of new deaths decreased by 10 per cent, the WHO said on Thursday, as the new Omicron variant led the spike, according to news agency PTI.

The COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, released by the global health agency, said that during the week of December 27 to January 2, following a gradual increase since October, the global number of new cases increased sharply by 71 per cent as compared to the previous week.

The number of new deaths decreased by 10 per cent. This corresponds to just under 9.5 million new cases and over 41,000 new deaths reported during the last week. As of January 2, a total of nearly 289 million cases and over 5.4 million deaths have been reported globally, the update by the World Health Organisation said.

Amid rising Covid cases, the Chandigarh administration on Thursday decided to impose night curfew in the Union Territory from Friday and also shut all educational institutions including schools, colleges, universities and coaching classes, officials said, according to news agency PTI. According to an official order, under the night curfew, movement of individuals for all non-essential activities will remain prohibited between 10 pm to 5 am. The new curbs come into force with effect from January 7 and will be applicable until further notice, the order said.

However, essential activities including emergency services, medical health, transport of essential goods, operation of multiple shifts in industries, offices (both government and private), movement of persons and goods on national and state highways and unloading of cargo and travel of persons to their destinations after disembarking from buses, trains and airplanes will be permitted.

Himachal Pradesh saw its biggest single-day jump in the infection in the last several weeks on Thursday, recording 498 fresh COVID-19 cases that pushed the state's virus count to 2,30,285, a health official said, according to news agency PTI. The death count from the pandemic remained unchanged at 3,863 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the state on Thursday.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to 1,655 from 1,216 on Wednesday, the official said. Sixty more patients recovered from the viral disease. With this, the total number of recoveries in Himachal Pradesh stands at 2,24,738, he said.

With a steep rise in coronavirus cases, the Food and Supply Department has decided to deploy volunteers to ensure health guidelines are followed by beneficiaries and the staff at all fair price shops in Delhi, an official statement said, according to news agency PTI. The instructions were issued by Food and Supply Minister Imran Hussain after a high-level meeting of the department with other stakeholders of the public distribution system on Thursday.

"The minister directed the Food & Civil Supplies department officials to ensure that civil defence volunteers deputed at FPSs should monitor all the beneficiaries are wearing masks and are following social distancing norms," the statement said. It added that Mr Hussain also directed officials to ensure that FPS dealers adopt Covid-appropriate behaviour at all times during the ration distribution.

With plans to relax COVID-19 restrictions at places with less positivity rate, the Karnataka government is likely to review the containment measures announced by it effective across the state, next week, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said on Thursday, according to news agency PTI. At the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today, some ministers expressed reservation about enforcing restrictions across the state, especially in places where the positivity rate is low.

Nearly 56,000 teenagers in Delhi belonging to the 15-17 age group received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose on Thursday, according to official figures, reported news agency PTI. The drive was started at 169 centres in the national capital on Monday. On January 6, at 5.30 pm, a total of 55,979 children in the age bracket of 15-17 were vaccinated across Delhi. The Northeast district scored the highest number of inoculations till 5.30 pm on Thursday with 8,199 jabs, followed by the Southwest district with 6,943. West Delhi district administered the lowest number of 2,964 vaccine doses to teenagers on Thursday, the data showed.

The Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus were spreading like a 'tsunami' wave in Tamil Nadu, State Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said on Thursday and appealed to people to adhere to Covid-19 protocols besides getting vaccinated to contain the spread, reported news agency PTI. 

The comment comes in the wake of the state registering a massive spurt in new Covid-19 infections over the last few days. On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu witnessed 4,862 people testing Covid-19 positive, pushing the tally to 27.60 lakh while nine fatalities took the death count to 36,814.

Maharashtra reported 36,265 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, besides 13 Covid-related deaths. Currently 5,85,758 people are in home quarantine and 1368 people are in institutional quarantine. The case fatality rate is the state is 2.08%.

Moreover, 79 new omicron cases were also reported in the state. Till date, a total of 876 patients infected with the new Omicron variant have been reported in the state.

Mumbai reported 20,181 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, about 33% increase since yesterday (15,166). This is the highest ever daily infection figure recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. Besides, the city also reported four deaths during this period. Of the new cases, 17,154 (85%) are asymptomatic patients and 1,170 patients have been hospitalised in the last 24 hours. Of the new hospitalisations, 1,170 are on oxygen support.

As many as 22 students from the prestigious XLRI-School of Management in Jamshedpur have been tested positive for the Covid-19 infection, while test reports for another 100 are still awaited, the college authorities said on Thursday said, according to news agency PTI.

Worried about an alarming spike in coronavirus infections in the steel city of Jamshedpur, XLRI in collaboration with East Singhbhum District Administration, had conducted random tests on resident students.

Taking a pro-active approach, the Institute has created isolation areas within the campus to combat, contain and manage the spread of Covid-19 infections.

Students who tested positive were isolated in the MDP Residence of the campus with self-contained rooms and room service facilities. Medical supplies, food and counselling are being provided by the institute following guidelines and directions issued by the Government of Jharkhand.

Source: Delhi Corona App 

Total Covid beds: 12,991

Occupied: 1,164

Vacant: 11,827

Total Covid oxygen beds: 12,151

Occupied 1,134

Vacant: 11017

Total Covid ICU beds: 3,555

Occupied: 214

Vacant: 3,341

Total Covid ICU with ventilator beds: 1,677

Occupied: 70

Vacant: 1,607

A total of 1,116 COVID-19 oxygen beds out of 12,104 are occupied in the Delhi hospitals, while 72 ICU beds with ventilators have patients, with city Health Minister Satyendar Jain saying the numbers do not mean that the patients require oxygen or ventilator support, reported news agency PTI. Mr Jain allayed fears about the numbers showing on the Delhi Corona mobile application and said most of the hospital beds in the city are oxygen beds and a patient occupying an oxygen bed does not necessarily mean that he requires the life-saving gas.

Active coronavirus cases went past the 2,000-mark to 2,266 in Andhra Pradesh as 547 fresh infections were reported in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday, reported news agency PTI. According to the latest bulletin, 128 infected persons got cured, while one more died in the state in 24 hours. The cumulative Covid-19 positive count now increased to 20,78,923, the bulletin said. The total recoveries touched 20,62,157, while the death count reached 14,500.

Two markets in Delhi were ordered to be shut for a certain period in view of "violation" of COVID containment guidelines, according to an official order. It said the breach may have caused "super-spreading" of the coronavirus. The office of the Karawal Nagar SDM on January 5 ordered closure of Sonia Vihar Second Pusta Market and Mukund Vihar Market, Karawal Nagar, from 4 pm January 6 till 10 am January 7, or till further orders, whichever is earlier. The order said the containment restrictions were applicable for all, except shops dealing with essential goods and services.

The surge in COVID-19 infections has put a brake on the Delhi government's Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Yojna under which the elderly are taken to various religious sites, with a train scheduled to leave for the Velankani church in Tamil Nadu on Friday having been cancelled, officials said, reported news agency PTI. Eleven train trips that were planned in January have been affected due to the pandemic. The train to Velankani on January 7 stands cancelled, said Kamal Bansal, chairman of Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti.

The 30th edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), which was scheduled to be held at Pragati Maidan from January 8 to 16, has been postponed in view of the latest DDMA guidelines imposed following the surge in Covid cases driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, said the organisers in a statement, according to news agency PTI.

The fresh dates for the NDWBF, held online last year due to the Covid pandemic, will be announced separately, it said.

"In view of the latest DDMA guidelines, and the requests made by various stakeholders, the NDWBF 2022 has been postponed. The fresh dates will be announced separately," said National Book Trust (NBT), the organiser of the event, in the statement.

Former Puducherry Chief Minister and senior Congress leader V Narayanasamy on Thursday appealed to the territorial Chief Minister N Rangasamy to cancel the National Youth Festival (NYF) scheduled for five days from January 12, reported news agency PTI.

He asked the Chief Minister to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the latter to postpone his visit Puducherry on January 12 to inaugurate the National Youth Festival as coronavirus was spreading fast in Puducherry and cases of Omicron were also reported recently.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that she will have a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday as the number of daily COVID-19 cases in the state has increased to 14,022, according to news agency ANI. Addressing a press conference in Howrah district on Thursday, the Chief Minister said, "The number of daily COVID-19 cases has increased to 14,022 and active cases to 33,042 in the state. I will attend a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow."

Omicron cases continued to increase in Kerala with the state on Thursday reporting 50 fresh cases of this new variant of COVID-19, taking the tally to 280, the health department said, according to news agency PTI. A day ago the state had logged 49 cases of Omicron. Of the 50 cases reported on Thursday, 18 were from Ernakulam, 8 from Thiruvananthapuram, 7 from Pathanamthitta, 5 each from Kottayam and Malappuram, 3 from Kollam and 1 each from Alappuzha, Thrissur, Palakkad, a health department release said. Besides these, a Coimbatore native, who returned from Egypt, also tested positive for Omicron while he was in Kerala, the release said. According to the release, 32 of the Omicron infected persons had come from the UAE. The remaining came from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, USA, UK, Italy, Ukraine, Sweden, Singapore and the Maldives.

The National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala on Thursday reported four positive cases in its campus. The positive cases were confirmed following 170 RT-PCR tests conducted among athletes and coaches residing in the campus. It includes three junior athletes and a coach.

"RT-PCR tests for 170 athletes and coaches were conducted in NSNIS Patiala on Tuesday as part of SAI COVID SOP. Results have revealed that three junior athletes and one coach are COVID positive," said the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in a statement.

Maharashtra Police officers above the age of 55 years have been advised not to go for duty and can work from their homes, State Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said on Thursday, according to news agency ANI. "COVID-19 guidelines are issued by the Chief Secretary and we should abide by them to keep ourselves safe from the virus. Police officers above 55 years of age are advised not to go for duty, they can work from their homes," Mr Patil told reporters.

As many as 125 passengers of a flight from Italy tested positive after landing in Punjab's Amritsar this afternoon. There were 179 passengers, including 19 children, on the chartered flight from Milan that arrived in Amritsar around 1.30 pm. All adult passengers were tested on arrival as Italy is one of the high risk countries for Omicron, according to the Union Health Ministry. The passengers who are Covid positive will be sent to institutional quarantine.

The Gujarat government has decided to postpone the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2021 in view of rising COVID-19 cases in the state.

In a press release, the government said, "Due to the spread of new variant of Coronavirus, Omicron, the Chief Minister, Bhupendra Patel, has decided to postpone to Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2021, which is scheduled from January 10 to 12."

The press release said that the state is on full alert to tackle the spread of COVID-19.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are 10,994 active COVID-19 cases.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Thursday tested positive for COVID-19 in the national capital with mild symptoms.

"My covid test report has come positive. I have completely isolated myself. People who came in contact with me are requested to take necessary steps with caution," the Minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

MoS Home Rai on Wednesday took part in an event organized at the CRPF's Shaurya Officer's Institute in Delhi where he distributed the last 10 Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) cards to the personnel of each seven forces belonging to Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and National Security Guard (NSG).

The union territory of Puducherry witnessed a jump in the number of fresh coronavirus cases with 129 being added in the last 24 hours, a senior Health department official said on Thursday.

The union territory had clocked 73 new infections on Wednesday and 66 on Tuesday.

The 129 new cases in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM on Thursday pushed the overall tally to 1,29, 821, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services G Sriramulu said in a release here.

While Puducherry region (the capital of the union territory) reported 84 fresh cases, Karaikal logged 36, Mahe (8) and Yanam (1), he added.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pawar on Thursday said she has tested positive for coronavirus.

"Today my #Covid-19 test report has come out positive and I have quarantined myself at home. All those who came in contact with me in the last few days are requested to get their #Covid test done and follow the rules for prevention of coronavirus," the minister tweeted.

Pawar is the Lok Sabha member from Dindori in Nashik district of Maharashtra.

Earlier this week, Lok Sabha member from south Mumbai Arvind Sawant, Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde and MLA Vidya Thakur (from Goregaon in Mumbai) had also tested positive.

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Families that have lost loved ones to COVID-19 in Delhi will get a one-time ex gratia assistance of Rs 50,000 from the Delhi Disaster Response Fund (DDRF), in addition to the financial aid of an equal amount being provided by the city government, officials said.

Senior government officials said on Wednesday that directions have been issued to district magistrates to disburse ex gratia assistance of Rs 50,000 out of the DDRF to such families and a public notice in this regard is expected to be issued on the weekend.

Around 21,000 such families have received financial assistance of Rs 50,000 under the Delhi government's 'Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana' scheme. Now, they will also receive an ex gratia of Rs 50,000 out of the DDRF, a senior official said

Just In| India records over 90,000 new Covid cases in 24 hours, 56.5% up from yesterday

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As many as 60 employees of Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) including bus drivers have tested positive for COVID-19, BEST PRO informed on Wednesday.

"60 employees of BEST including bus drivers test positive for COVID-19," BEST PRO said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 15,166 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of active cases to 61,923 in the city, informed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday.

With this, the city's COVID-19 case tally jumped