A young beneficiary getting vaccinated at a Municipal-run vaccination center in Mumbai. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus Omicron India Live: Stating that India has noted a sharp surge in Covid-19 cases with active infections crossing 9.5 lakh on Wednesday, the health ministry said the case positivity rate rose from 1.1 per cent on December 30 to 11.05 per cent on January 12. India recorded 1,94,720 fresh Covid-19 cases and 442 deaths in the 24 hours ending 8 am Wednesday. The active cases mounted to 9,55,319, the highest in 211 days. The daily positivity rate increased to 11.05 per cent.
In other news, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday stated that over two crore children in the age group 15-18 years have been vaccinated against Covid-19 so far. He lauded the “sense of responsibility” of the country’s youth and said it has manifested in the quick pace of vaccination. The drive to inoculate teenagers had begun on January 3.
Delhi on Wednesday reported 27,561 new cases of Covid-19 and 40 deaths, as the positivity rate also rose to 26.22 per cent. Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that Covid-19 cases have started coming down in Mumbai and “we will soon see the same trend” in the national capital. He added, “Plateauing of hospital admissions is an indication that the wave may have peaked. We may see a decline in cases in two to three days.”
Mumbai Wednesday reported 16,420 new Covid-19 cases — about 41 per cent more than Tuesday — at a test positivity rate of 24 per cent and seven deaths.
Health staff during the observation period after receiving their third dose at the Dayanand Medical College & Hospital in Ludhiana on Monday. (Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)
😷 Today's Covid numbers: Delhi (27,561), Mumbai (16,420 cases), Bengaluru (15,617 cases), Kolkata (7,060 cases), Chennai (7,372 cases)
Delhi on Wednesday reported 27,561 new cases of Covid-19 and 40 deaths, as the positivity rate also rose to 26.22 per cent. On Tuesday, the city had recorded 21,259 Covid-19 cases and 23 deaths.
Maharashtra Wednesday reported 46,000 fresh Covid-19 cases at a positivity rate of 21.4 per cent. Of this, Mumbai logged 16,420 cases at a test positivity rate of 24 per cent. Seven deaths were also reported in the financial capital.
Karnataka on Wednesday reported 21,390 new cases of Covid-19 and 10 deaths. The positivity rate in the state stands at 10.96 per cent. Out of the new cases, at least 15,617 cases were reported from Bengaluru city.
Ahmedabad district in Gujarat has reported 21.5 per cent Covid-19 positivity rate as compared to the state's average of around eight per cent, as per the district-wise test figures released on Wednesday. Besides, the positivity rate in Surat is over 11 per cent, also higher than the state's average.
A total of 93,758 tests were carried out in Gujarat on Tuesday, out of which 7,476 (or 7.9 per cent) were found positive for the coronavirus infection, according to the statistics updated on the state's Covid-19 dashboard. In Ahmedabad district, 13,485 tests were conducted on Tuesday and 2,903 (21.5 per cent) of them came out positive, as per the state health department. Ahmedabad conducted the second highest number of tests in the state after Surat, where a total of 18,966 samples were tested on Tuesday. Surat district reported 2,124 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, with the positivity rate of about 11.2 per cent.
The test positivity rate -- the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that turn out to be positive -- is an important metric through which the public health system keeps a tab on the level of Covid-19 ransmission. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated 11 government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu and said the future will belong to societies that invest in healthcare.
After virtually inaugurating the medical institutions, Modi said the Covid-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the importance of the health sector and listed out the various health and medical education related initiatives of his government. "The once in a lifetime covid-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the importance of the health sector. The future will belong to societies which invest in health care. The government of India has brought many reforms in the health sector," he said in his virtual address.
"Learning from the pandemic, we keep working to ensure inclusive, quality health services to all our countrymen," he said. (PTI)
India's vaccine maker Bharat Biotech informed that COVAXIN (BBV152) booster has shown to neutralize both Omicron and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2. (ANI)
The Directorate of Education (DoE) in Delhi on Wednesday directed its officials to take various measures to ramp up Covid-19 vaccination of children in the age group of 15-17.
'All DDE (Districts) and DDE (Zones) will visit vaccination centres under their jurisdiction and check the vaccination procedures on a daily basis. Further, they will visit schools to check the record that is being maintained with the principals wherein the students are informed about vaccination schedule,” the DoE said in an official order.
“The officer will also randomly call the students and parents to find out whether they were informed about vaccination and whether they have been vaccinated or not. The heads of schools will also have to increase mobilisation efforts to ensure more than 80 pc children in each school turn up for vaccination,” it added.
The vaccination for children in the age group began on January 3. (PTI)
As many as 300 districts in India are reporting weekly Covid case positivity of more than 5 per cent, the Union government said on Wednesday as it urged people not to treat infection due to Omicron variant as common cold and get vaccinated. It said Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat are emerging as states of concern due to the rise in Covid cases there.
Addressing a press conference, Joint Secretary in Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections has been noted in India with the case positivity climbing to 11.05 per cent on Wednesday from 1.1 per cent on December 30.
Concurrently, Covid cases have been rising globally with January 10 recording the highest ever single-day rise of 31.59 lakh cases worldwide, he said. (PTI)
All symptomatic cases, including all risk contacts, need to be tested, ICMR chief Balram Bhargava said on Wednesday. He further said that asymptomatic cases are not required to get tested unless they are at high risk and added that home quarantine is mandatory for all contacts for 7 days as per guidelines. (ANI)
Scientists are seeing signals that Covid-19's alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the US, at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.
The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa. “It's going to come down as fast as it went up,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.
At the same time, experts warn that much is still uncertain about how the next phase of the pandemic might unfold. The plateauing or ebbing in the two countries is not happening everywhere at the same time or at the same pace. And weeks or months of misery still lie ahead for patients and overwhelmed hospitals even if the drop-off comes to pass. “There are still a lot of people who will get infected as we descend the slope on the backside,” said Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, which predicts that reported cases will peak within the week. (AP)
Addressing a press conference, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal Wednesday said that after a review meeting by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Covid-19 situation, the government has revised discharge policy with severity categorised into mild and moderate cases.
Mild cases will be discharged after at least 7 days from testing positive and non-emergency for three successive days. There is no need for testing prior to discharge, the health official said.
In case of moderate infection, if there is resolution of symptoms and the patient's Oxygen saturation level stays above 93% for three successive days (without O2), then such patients will be discharged.
🔴 Surge in Covid cases being noted globally; highest ever single-day rise worldwide was 31.59 lakh on Jan 10, says government
🔴 Sharp surge in Covid-19 infections noted in India, case positivity rose from 1.1 per cent on Dec 30 to 11.05 per cent on Jan 12, says health ministry
🔴 Currently, 300 districts in India are reporting weekly case positivity of more than 5 per cent
🔴 Total 115 confirmed deaths globally and one in India due to Omicon, says health ministry
🔴 Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, UP, Kerala, Gujarat emerging as states of concern due to rise in Covid cases, says government
A whopping 1,700 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection since January 1, officials said on Wednesday, adding that a special camp has been organised for police headquarters staffers to administer booster doses to the eligible beneficiaries.
“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. The strength of the Delhi Police force is over 80,000, police said.
As a precautionary welfare measure, a special camp has also been organised for the staffers working at Delhi Police Headquarters on Jai Singh Marg for administering booster shots to those found eligible, they said. (PTI)
Puducherry confirmed 893 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the cumulative figure to 1,32,759 during the last twenty-four hours ending 10 a.m. on Wednesday. One person succumbed to the infection in Puducherry during last twenty-four hours raising the toll to 1,883. The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 4,387 samples and these cases were spread over Puducherry 801, Karaikal 60, Mahe 22 and Yanam 10.
In a release, Director of Health, G Sriramulu noted that the active cases were 3,203 of whom 137 were in hospitals taking treatment and the remaining 3066 patients were in home isolation. He said 44 patients recovered during last 24 hours and the overall recoveries stood at 1,27,673.
The test positivity rate was 20.36 percent while the fatality and recovery rates were 1.42 percent and 96.17 percent respectively. (PTI)
Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19’s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the US, at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.
The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa.
“It’s going to come down as fast as it went up,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. Read More
Omicron is quickly overtaking the Delta variant of Covid-19 and becoming dominant around the world, a senior WHO official has warned, with the global health agency cautioning that there is “increasing evidence” Omicron is able to evade immunity but has less disease severity as compared to other variants.
It could take some time for Omicron to overtake Delta in some countries, because it depends on the level of circulation of the Delta variant in those countries, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and Covid-19 Technical Lead at the World Health Organisation (WHO) Maria Van Kerkhove said on Tuesday.
She further cautioned that even though there is some information that Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, “it’s not a mild disease” because “people are still being hospitalized for Omicron”. Read more
A 37-year-old pregnant woman and four other passengers tested positive for Covid-19 at the Indore airport on Wednesday, following which they were prevented from boarding Air India's Dubai-bound flight, PTI reported.
The woman, who was from Bhopal and six months pregnant, had not taken a single dose of Covid-19 vaccine, while the other four infected passengers were inoculated, Dr Priyanka Kourav, medical officer of the Madhya Pradesh health department, was quoted as saying.
All the five people are asymptomatic and have been advised to isolate at home, the official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded the "sense of responsibility" of the country's youth and said it manifested in the pace of Covid-19 vaccination in the 15-18 years age group that has covered over two crore children since its rollout this month.
"The role of the youth in the success of our Covid vaccination programme is being witnessed altogether at a different level. We are seeing that the youth in the 15-18 years age group are getting themselves vaccinated at a quick pace. In such a short time, over two crore children have been vaccinated. This exemplifies the sense of responsibility in today's youth and my confidence in a bright future of the country is further strengthened," he said. (PTI)
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has extended the cashless treatment facility for Covid-19 treatment for all its contractual and regular muster roll (RMR) employees, and their family members, for three more months (till March 31) or till the number of cases comes down.
As per this facility, the NDMC contractual and RMR employees and their family members can avail Covid-19 treatment in any empanelled hospital by showing the certificates issued to them by the welfare department of the civic body and the expenditure would be reimbursed. Read more