Covid-19 Omicron Variant Live Updates: West Bengal imposes fresh curbs amid Covid-19 surge, flights from Delhi, Mumbai restricted from Jan 5; Odisha detects 23 new Omicron cases

Odisha Sunday registered 23 more omicron cases, raising the tally of the of the new variant of COVID-19 in the state to 37, a senior health department official said. While 13 of them returned from Finland, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Syria, 10 are local-contact cases, he said. On Thursday, the coastal state had logged five omicron infections, and the first such case on December 21. Odisha's coronavirus tally on Sunday mounted to 10,55,556 with 424 fresh cases. The death toll stood at 8,463. (PTI)

Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Sunday urged school teachers and Parent Teachers Association (PTA) to take initiative to vaccinate children against the coronavirus. The Minister urged the school authorities and the PTA to also create awareness on the virus among students and the parents. Around 15.4 lakh students, including 12 lakh studying in government schools and in the age group of 15 to 18 years, would receive the vaccine, the Minister's office said in a press release. This includes students from CBSE, ICSE, ITI and polytechnic institutions. “Everyday, the Education Department will collate the details of students who have been administered with the vaccine. The Minister will soon call a meeting of the other streams, including the CBSE and ICSE,” the release said. The vaccination for children is arranged at all General/District/Taluk/Community Health Centres till January 10 except on Wednesdays, the release said. Meanwhile, State Health Minister Veena George told reporters that an action plan for the vaccination has been formulated. The vaccination would begin from January 3. There would be separate areas in the hospitals for the vaccination of children in the hospitals. (PTI)

In view of the rise in coronavirus infections and its Omicron variant, the Centre has decided to hold a series of webinars from January 5 to 19 on various aspects of clinical management of Covid cases in collaboration with AIIMS, Delhi. In a letter to states and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has requested that all state-level Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and doctors in public and private district-level COVID-19 health facilities along with CDMOs and in-charges of COVID-19 treatment facilities may be directed to attend these webinars. “The growing trajectory of COVID-19 cases and Variant of Concern (VOC) Omicron, in some of the states and Union Territories in the country is a matter of concern,” Bhushan said. “While public health action in terms of containment, surveillance, contact tracing, testing, adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour and vaccination are of prime importance, it is equally crucial that efforts are made by all stakeholders to minimize the mortality due to COVID-19 to a minimum possible level,” he said in the letter on Sunday. The Ministry of Health in collaboration with AIIMS, New Delhi, under the Centres of Excellence initiative had earlier held a series of webinars with state-level CoEs (which are medical college hospitals) on various aspects of clinical management of COVID-19 cases. This series of webinar has been well received by the doctors, particularly intensivists and critical care experts. The CoEs of states and Union Territories were urged to hold similar scries of webinars with their district-level counterparts, which was undertaken by many states, the letter highlighted. “In continuation of those efforts, it is proposed to have another series of Centre of Excellence webinar for all state-level Centres of Excellence and district-level public and private Covid healthcare facilities in collaboration with AIIMS, Delhi,” the letter said. (PTI)

Mizoram on Sunday reported 84 new COVID-19 cases, 181 less than the previous day, with the tally increasing to 1,41,749, a health department official said. The death toll rose to 546 as two more persons succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said. At least 102 people recuperated from the disease during the period, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,39,488. The recovery rate among coronavirus patients stood at 98.40 per cent. Aizawl district recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 35, followed by Serchhip at 22 and Mamit at 14, the official said. The single-day positivity rate dipped to 16.47 per cent from 19.62 per cent on the previous day, he said. The northeastern state now has 1,715 active cases. Mizoram has so far tested 1,50,8,818 samples for COVID-19, including 510 on Saturday. Over 7.30 lakh people have been inoculated with 5.89 lakh of them having received both doses of vaccines, state immunisation officer Dr Lalzawmi said. (PTI)

A 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. 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. “The cost will be a great many infections,” Ash told 103FM Radio. “The numbers will have to be very high in order to reach herd immunity. This is possible but we don't want to reach it by means of infections, we want it to happen as a result of many people vaccinating,” he said. Around 60% of Israel's 9.4 million population are fully vaccinated – almost all with Pfizer /BioNTech'S vaccine – according to the health ministry, which means they have either received three doses or have had their second dose recently. But hundreds of thousands of those eligible for a third inoculation have so far not taken it. (Reuters)

Pakistan's Planning Minister Asad Umar has said that there are clear indications of the beginning of a new wave of the pandemic amidst a spike in the number of the new cases of COVID-19's Omicron variant in the country. Umar, who is also the chief of the country's anti-pandemic body National Command and Opertion Centre (NCOC), also said that the country was taking all the measures required to contain the virus in the country. “Clear evidence now of a beginning of another Covid wave which has been expected for last few weeks. Genome sequencing showing rising proportion of omicron cases particularly in Karachi,” he said in a tweet. Umar urged the people to remember “wearing a mask is your best protection” against the infection. Pakistan has already braved four waves of the pandemic since the first case of the coronavirus was reported on February 26, 2020. Umar's tweet came days after the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed 75 cases of the Omicron strain of Covid-19 across the country. Earlier the first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was reported on December 13 in Karachi. “As of December 27, 2021, a total of 75 Omicron cases have been confirmed – 33 in Karachi, 17 in Islamabad and 13 in Lahore,” according to the NIH statement. Karachi city imposed a 15-day micro-smart lockdown in the city's District East on Saturday after the emergence of at least 12 cases of Omicron variant in the area. Umar's latest warning of the new wave came as the country registered 594 new cases in the last 24 hours, the third consecutive day when more than 500 cases were detected, according to the Ministry of National Health Services. The curve stayed flat for more than a month and half and suddenly began to rise on December 29 when 484 cases were registered. Next day 515 new cases emerged, taking the positivity rate to 1.07 per cent, which had remained below one per cent for more than a month. So far 1,296,527 confirmed cases have been detected but also 1,257,024 have recovered, while 28,941 patients died. The authorities have also achieved the target of fully vaccinating 70 million people by the end of 2021 which is about 46 per cent of the population eligible for vaccination. (PTI)

Frustrated with not getting a chance to go to school for nearly 18 months due to Covid, class 3 student Abhinav Shukla was full of excitement in November last year when schools reopened. Ruhi Yadav, a KG student who began her school journey online when she enrolled in nursery class last year, was yet to step into school even once till November. Their hopes, however, were short lived with the schools again closed in Delhi due to pollution within a week of reopening. Two weeks later, schools were allowed to reopen but had to be closed again following Delhi High Court rap over alarming pollution levels. In December, the schools were again allowed to reopen for classes above 6 while junior classes were scheduled to reopen from December 27. But then the Delhi government enforced a yellow alert following spike in COVID-19 cases and emergence of new Omicron variant. Similar stories were witnessed across other states where schools were reopened only to be closed and reopened again. With schools stuck in the cycle of repeated closures in 2021, experts rang alarm bells for long term consequences and widening learning gaps. With the threat of a third wave looming large, school principals feel it's clear that there will be more closures and hence a roadmap for 2022 is necessary. “The closure of schools has now started taking a toll on children's mental and physical health. Learning loss has become a global phenomenon and steps to bridge learning gap are of utmost importance. It is crucial to break the monotony as educators, our focus must also be on empowering parents to facilitate children's learning at home. A list of activities can be shared with them so that resources at home can be used for gauging the learning of learners,” said Sumedha Goel, director of The Shri Ram Wonder Years at Rohini here. (PTI)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that though the number of daily COVID-19 cases and active cases are increasing in the city, there is no need to panic as those are very mild and do not need hospitalisation. He presented data to show that despite an increase in the number of cases, bed occupancy in hospitals is even lesser than one per cent and is very low as compared to last year's deadly second wave of coronavirus in April. “Active COVID-19 cases rose from about 2,000 on December 29, 2021 to 6,000 on January 1, but the number of patients in hospitals dipped during this period. On December 29, 2021 as many as 262 beds were occupied while on January 1 it was 247 only,” Kejriwal said in a virtual press conference. He said that on March 27 last year, Delhi had 6,600 active cases and 1,150 oxygen beds were occupied. As many as 145 patients were on ventilator compared to five now, he said. (PTI)

Active COVID-19 cases rose from about 2k on Dec 29 to 6k on Jan 1, but number of patients in hospitals dipped in this period: Delhi CM (PTI)

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi have ordered closure of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University till further orders after 13 students tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Sunday. The decision to close the university located at Kakriyal near Katra town, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine, was taken to contain the spread and ensure safety of the students and general public, an order issued by Reasi District Magistrate Charandeep Singh said. The order said the screening for COVID-19 was conducted at the university on December 31, 2021 and January 1, during which a total of 13 students have tested positive. Ordering immediate closure of the university till further orders, Singh, who is also chairman of the district disaster management authority, said “any violation of the order shall invite punitive action under section 188 of Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005”. Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 169 fresh coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the infection count to 3,41,459, while two more fatalities pushed the death toll to 4,530. (PTI)

Ladakh's Covid tally rose to 22,207 on Sunday as 23 more people tested positive for the infection, officials said. While 20 cases were detected in Leh, three were reported from Kargil district, they said. No fresh death was reported in the Union Territory. According to the officials, the death toll stands at 219 — 161 fatalities from Leh and 58 from Kargil. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Ladakh has risen to 203 – 153 in Leh and 50 in Kargil – from 184 the previous day, the officials said. Four patients were discharged from hospitals in Leh, taking the total number of recoveries in the Union Territory to 21,785, they said. The officials said the total positivity rate of Ladakh stands at 3.7 per cent (Leh 5.0 per cent and Kargil 1.6 per cent). (PTI)

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Sunday the isolation period for fully vaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19 would be cut to seven days from 10 days. French authorities followed other countries such as the United States, which this week cut the isolation period to prevent disruptions in industries for lack of staff. (Reuters)

A total of 1,525 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 23 states and Union Territories so far, out of which 560 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Sunday. Maharashtra recorded a maximum of 460 cases, followed by Delhi at 351, Gujarat 136, Tamil Nadu 117 and Kerala 109. India's Covid tally rose to 3,48,89,132 with 27,553 fresh cases, while the active cases have increased to 1,22,801, according to the data updated at 8 am. The death toll has climbed to 4,81,770 with 284 more fatalities, the data showed. The active cases have increased to 1,22,801 comprising 0.35 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.27 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 18,020 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.55 per cent. The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 1.35 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,42,84,561, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.38 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 145.44 crore. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one crore-mark on December 19. India had crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23. (PTI)

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. 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. But hospitalisations, which authorities have signalled is a figure they are more closely monitoring than total case numbers as they shift towards living with the virus, jumped by 18% to 1,066. In Victoria, daily case numbers remained above 7,000 and Queensland reported a record 3,587 new cases. (Reuters)