15 to 18 year-old beneficiaries at Mumbai's BKC Jumbo Center get Covid vaccination. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Covid-19 India Live News: Delhi on Tuesday decided to implement a weekend curfew in the national capital, following a meeting by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority. Meanwhile, the seating capacity in the metro and buses was increased to 100 per cent to avoid crowding at stops and stations.
The Punjab government has imposed a night curfew in the state from 10 pm to 5 am, excluding essential services. All educational institutes shall remain closed, while online classes will continue. Among other restrictions, bars, cinemas halls, malls, restaurants and spas will be allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity, subject to staff being fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, several leaders on Tuesday said that they have tested positive for Covid-19. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari took to Twitter to state that he had tested positive and was isolating. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had attended an election rally in Dehradun on Monday, also said that he was experiencing mild symptoms. Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde and TMC’s Bubul Supriyo, too, said they are Covid-positive.
India recorded 37,379 fresh Covid-19 cases and 124 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am Tuesday. With 11,007 recoveries, the active cases in the country stood at 1,71,830. Meanwhile, the Omicron tally has touched 1,892, with the highest number of cases in Maharashtra (568).
Children getting vaccinated against coronavirus in Ahmedabad. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
A spate of new studies on lab animals and human tissues are providing the first indication of why the omicron variant causes milder disease than previous versions of the coronavirus.
In studies on mice and hamsters, omicron produced less-damaging infections, often limited largely to the upper airway: the nose, throat and windpipe. The variant did much less harm to the lungs, where previous variants would often cause scarring and serious breathing difficulty.
“It’s fair to say that the idea of a disease that manifests itself primarily in the upper respiratory system is emerging,” said Roland Eils, a computational biologist at the Berlin Institute of Health, who has studied how coronaviruses infect the airway. Read more
There is no proposal at present to put any restrictions on suburban train travel in Mumbai, a senior civic official has said amid the metropolis recording a surge in new coronavirus cases. Though the number of daily Covid-19 cases and positivity rate have been increasing in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is working on preventive measures and is ready to handle any crisis, Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani told reporters.
A total of 80 people, including doctors, students and support staff, of the Government Rajindra Hospital and Medical College in Punjab's Patiala have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Tuesday.
District Epidemiologist Dr Sumeet Singh on Tuesday said 22 resident doctors, 34 medical students, nine faculty members and 15 support and paramedical staff at the Government Rajindra Hospital and Medical College have tested positive for COVID-19.
The officials said directions have been issued to evacuate nearly 1,000 medical students from the hostel after conducting their Covid tests. Those who test positive for the viral disease will be isolated, they added. (PTI)
In view of the rising Covid cases in Punjab, the Chandigarh adiminstration has decided to close Rock Garden until further orders.
Dehli Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stated that the seating cap in buses and metro will be increased to 100 per cent to avoid crowding at stops and stations. However, there will be no entry without masks. Earlier, the public transport in the national capital was functioning at 50 per cent capacity in light of rising Covid cases. Read more
As many as 33 Covid-positive cases have been reported in Lucknow's Medanta Hospital, including 32 hospital staff and an emergency doctor, ANI reported. Medanta Hospital Director Rakesh Kapoor said that all are asymptomatic. Other staff and doctors also being tested, while infected departments are being sanitised.
Former Union minister Babul Supriyo said he along with his wife, father and several members of his staff have tested positive for Covid-19.
"Me, my wife, Dad, multiple staff, hv all tested positive, but my concern is the superhigh Rs.61000/- price of the Cocktail jab that needs to be given SOS to seriously ill #COVID19 patients. Dad who is 84, needed the jab SOS & I hv to buy it on-the-spot. Hw can the EWS afford it? (sic)," he tweeted.
Cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla said on Tuesday that he has tested positive for Covid-19. Shukla, a former minister in the West Bengal government, said he was in home isolation.
"I have tested positive for Covid-19 and in home isolation. I have a high fever and I am following the doctor's advice. Other members of my family are fine," Shukla, the captain of the Bengal Ranji Trophy team, told PTI.
Amid a Covid-19 surge in the national capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to impose to weekend curfew, starting from this week.
It has also decided to implement work-from-home in all government offices, barring essential services. Private offices will be allowed to function at 50 per cent capacity. Read more
Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said that he has tested positive for Covid-19. He added that he is "undergoing medical treatment under the supervision of a doctor. With the blessings of all of you, I will overcome the coronavirus and soon, I will be at your service. People who have come in contact with me in the last few days should be careful."
The Telangana government has declared Sankranthi holidays for all educational institutions across the state between January 8 and 16. The decision coincides with a sudden spike in the number of new Covid-19 infections and was taken Monday during Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s review of the Covid-19 situation prevailing in the state. Meanwhile, officials informed the CM there was no need to impose a lockdown in the state at present.
Rao directed officials to take immediate measures to strengthen the health infrastructure in government hospitals. He said people need not worry about the increase in Covid-19 cases, but asked them to remain cautious and adhere to the protocols issued by the government. The CM has asked officials to increase oxygen production from the present 324 tonnes (earlier increased from 140 tonnes) to 500 tonnes to meet any increased demand in future, and keep ready one crore Covid-19 isolation kits and two crore testing kits. He also asked officials concerned to ensure the availability of doctors and fill up vacancies on priority. Read more
In the major Indian cities, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is accounting for more than 50 per cent of the fresh cases of the infection and the massive surge in the number of cases over the last one week is indicative of a third wave of the pandemic, as is being witnessed in several countries, Dr N K Arora, the chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the NTAGI, said on Tuesday.
Omicron is being detected in most of the states in the country, he told PTI. Noting that in the major metro centres and the surrounding regions, the new variant of the virus is accounting for over 50 per cent of the fresh cases, Arora said, "The galloping increase in the number of Covid cases over the last one week is indicative of the third wave, as is being seen in several other countries across the globe."
He, however, stressed that there is no need to panic. "If we look at the behaviour of the Omicron wave in South Africa, where it rapidly increased, in two weeks, the number of cases started coming down and most of the cases were either asymptomatic or had a mild illness, along with the decoupling of the total number of Covid cases vis-a-vis those requiring hospitalisation. All these factors indicate that the Omicron wave in South Africa may soon subside," he said. There are some epidemiological similarities between South Africa and India. (PTI)
Amid rising Covid-19 cases in Bihar, as many as 168 doctors of the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna have tested positive for the disease in the last three days. Most of these doctors who tested positive were on duty in the Covid ward of the hospital.
On Monday, out of the 186 people attending Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ‘janta durbar’ (people’s court) in Patna, six tested positive for Covid-19. Read more
MP Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19. He tweeted, "Yesterday (January 2), I was feeling unwell since night. Due to mild fever and cold, I could not even go for the Uttarakhand-Rudrapur campaign yesterday. I have tested positive today. As a precautionary measure, I had isolated myself yesterday only."
Amid rising Covid-19 cases, the Punjab government has imposed a night curfew in the state from 10 pm to 5 am, excluding essential services. All educational institutes shall remain closed, while online classes will continue. Only fully vaccinated staff will be allowed to work in government and private offices.
Among other restrictions, bars, cinemas halls, malls, restaurants and spas will be allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity, subject to staff being fully vaccinated. Whereas, gyms, swimming pools and sports complexes will remain closed.
Moreover, the notification urges people to follow the 'no mask, no service' principle -- no service shall be provided in government and private offices to the person not wearing proper mask.
The Cordelia cruise ship, where 66 of the over 2,000 people on board tested positive for coronavirus, has been sent back to Mumbai from Goa with all the passengers after some of the infected persons refused to get admitted to a medical facility in the coastal state, an official from a shipping agency said on Tuesday. The infected passengers would be isolated on the ship, he said.
The testing of those on board the vessel was necessitated after a crew member was found infected with the coronavirus on Sunday, an official said.
The ship was sent back at 11.30 pm on Monday after 27 passengers, who had tested positive, refused to disembark, Govind Pernulkar, manager operations, JM Baxi and Co, a local ship agent, told PTI. "Only six crew members out of the total 66 who had tested positive were disembarked in Goa," he said. (PTI)
Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey on Monday tweeted that he had tested positive for Covid-19. Taking to Twitter, the Minister said, "I am undergoing complete treatment as a precautionary measure at Yashoda Superspeciality Hospital, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad and now my health is stable. Many thanks for all your prayers."
He added, "I was unwell for the last two days due to which I got tested and the Covid report came positive. It is requested to all those who have come in contact with me in the last few days to take care of themselves and get tested as per requirement."
With the Covid-19 positivity rate jumping to 26.43 per cent, the Goa government will soon issue a notification to close down schools and colleges in the state and also impose night curfew, the state’s Covid task force decided on Monday. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said: “We held a meeting of the task force (on Covid-19). We are thinking over a night curfew. There will be restrictions on schools. A detailed note will follow.”
The state recorded 631 new cases on Monday, taking the total number of active cases to 2,240, the first time since July. Of the new cases, five were hospitalised. There were no deaths. Read more
With the number of Omicron cases rising in Maharashtra, state health department is planning to procure an approximate 1 lakh S-gene test kits to ensure that infections from the variant are detected faster.
On Monday, as many as 68 patients with Omicron infection were reported in the state, increasing the tally to 578 in Maharashtra. Of these, 40 are from Mumbai and 14 from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) area. Read more
According to the Union Ministry of Health, the Omicron tally on Tuesday reached 1,892, with the highest number of cases in Maharashtra at 568. Delhi reported 382 cases of the new variant, followed by Kerala (185), Rajasthan (174) and Gujarat (152).
Of the total number of Omicron cases, 766 have either recovered or been discharged.