Omicron Covid-19 India Latest Update: People wearing face masks visit a church to celebrate Christmas in Kolkata. (PTI)Coronavirus Omicron LIVE News: The Karnataka government has decided to impose “night curfew” for 10 days from December 28, between 10 pm to 5 am, Health Minister K Sudhakar said.
The government has also announced certain restrictions for New Year related parties and gatherings, amid fresh COVID-19 concerns with new clusters emerging and increasing threat of the new Omicron variant of Coronavirus.
India reported 6,987 new Covid-19 cases and 162 deaths in the last 24 hours. The country has 76,766 active cases, while over 141 crore vaccine doses have been administered.
A total of 422 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported across 17 states and Union Territories, of which 130 people have recovered.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday that vaccination against COVID-19 for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3, while “precaution dose” for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10, decisions that come amid rising Covid cases linked to the Omicron variant of the virus.
In an address to the nation, he said the precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years of age and with comorbidities on the advice of their doctor from January 10 next year as well.
The number of coronavirus cases at the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district has gone up to 51, including 48 students, according to PTI.
A few days ago, 19 students from the residential school in Parner tehsil had tested positive for the viral infection. The school has over 400 students across classes 5 to 12
The school, part of the Navodaya Vidyalaya network which comes under the Union education ministry, is located at Takali Dhokeshwar village in Ahmednagar district.
Andhra Pradesh reported two more cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, taking the tally to six. The two new cases were reported from Anantapuram and Prakasam districts, and both persons arrived from foreign countries, the Director of Public Health said in a statement.
A 48 year-old male who recently came from South Africa to Hyderabad and then to Ongole on December 16 tested COVID-19 positive on December 20. In the other case, a 51 year-old man came from UK and landed in Bangaluru on December 18. His samples were collected and sent to the CCMB after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Four people who returned to Odisha from foreign countries were found to be infected with the omicron variant, Two of the new patients returned from Nigeria, while the other two came back from UAE, said Director of Health Service (DHS) Bijay Mohapatra. With this, the state's omicron tally rose to eight.
Eight cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been found at Indore in Madhya Pradesh, state Home Narottam Mishra said. This is the first time that the MP government has reported cases of the new virus variant in the state.
The gap between the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the third, which is being called a "precaution dose", is likely to be nine to 12 months, official sources told PTI.
The nitty-gritty of the gaps for the vaccines currently being used in India's inoculation programme - Covishield and Covaxin - is being worked out, and a final decision over this will be taken soon, they said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned against the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 during his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', adding that the country's collective strength lies in self-discipline and self awareness, which will eventually defeat the virus.
"It is because of everyone's effort that India could fight the biggest pandemic in a 100 years. We stood by each other like a family in every difficult moment. To help someone in one’s locality or city. Everyone tried to do more than what one could have done. If we compare the vaccination figures of the world today with those of India, it feels that the country has handled such an unprecedented task...how big a goal has been achieved," he said.
Referring to the Omicron variant, Modi said, "We also have to keep in mind that a new variant has already knocked at the door. Our experience of the last two years is that our own effort as a citizen is very important to defeat this global pandemic. Our scientists are continuously studying this new Omicron variant. They are getting new data everyday, their suggestions are being worked upon. In such a situation, self-awareness, self-discipline is in itself the country’s strength in fighting against this variant of corona. It is this very collective strength of ours that will defeat Corona; with this very sense of responsibility we have to enter into 2022," he added.
China has reported 206 new COVID-19 cases, including 158 domestically transmitted ones, in a sudden spike ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics which will be held in February next year, the country's health commission said.
Of the new local cases of coronavirus, 157 were reported in Shaanxi and one in Guangxi provinces, besides 48 imported cases, the National Health Commission said.
The spike in cases ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has sparked concerns in the country as officials scampered to arrest the spread. (PTI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Centre has "accepted my suggestion" to allow the administration of booster doses of Covid vaccine and asserted that the protection of vaccines and booster shots has to be provided to every citizen of the country.
His remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that "precaution dose" for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10.
The daily rise in coronavirus infections has remained below 15,000 for the last 59 days now. The number of active COVID-19 cases declined to 76,766, comprising 0.22 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020.
A decrease of 266 cases has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours. The national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.74 per cent. It has remained below 2 per cent for the last 83 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.62 per cent. It has remained below 1 per cent for the last 42 days, according to the health ministry.
The Karnataka government has decided to impose "night curfew" for 10 days from December 28, between 10 pm to 5 am, Health Minister K Sudhakar said.
The government has also announced certain restrictions for New Year related parties and gatherings, amid fresh COVID-19 concerns with new clusters emerging and increasing threat of the new Omicron variant of Coronavirus.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, "There will be no functions, parties in the external premises, especially for those celebrating with DJs and large gatherings. They have been completely banned in Karnataka.”
The Minister also said that in places like eateries, hotels, pubs and restaurants can have 50 percent of the seating capacity of the premises. (PTI)
Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights because of staffing issues tied to COVID-19, disrupting holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted nearly 1,000 cancelled flights entering, leaving or inside the US Saturday, up from 690 flights scrapped on Friday. Over 250 more flights were already cancelled for Sunday. FlightAware does not say why flights are cancelled.
Delta, United and JetBlue had all said Friday that the omicron variant was causing staffing problems leading to flight cancellations. (AP)
India reported 6,987 new Covid-19 cases and 162 deaths in the last 24 hours. The country has 76,766 active cases, while over 141 crore vaccine doses have been administered.
A total of 422 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported across 17 states and Union Territories, of which 130 people have recovered.