Covid-19 Omicron Variant Live Updates: Madhya Pradesh govt shuts schools, bans political & religious gatherings; HC directs Karnataka govt to strictly execute Covid SoPs

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday exuded confidence on tiding over the recent surge in COVID-19 cases perpetrated by the Omicron variant of the virus as the state government has ramped up its health infrastructure and put in place management strategies to deal with any situation. The chief minister said that the state government is focusing on inoculation and targeting to complete administering the second dose of vaccine to the eligible population by February 10, an official statement said. Updating the prime minister at a video conference on the state's preparedness to tackle the current situation, Sarma said the health infrastructure created in the state has made the government upbeat about tackling the pandemic. The chief minister said, “Assam is confident to deal with the third wave caused by Omicron infections. But at the same time, it is taking a cautious approach in strategising its COVID care management to keep the infection at a manageable level.” He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Rs 670 crore Emergency COVID Response Package (ECRP), which helped the state government to ramp up its health infrastructure to deal with the pandemic. Sarma said since the vaccine is the most potent tool to fight the infection, the Assam government has gone all out in inoculating the eligible people of the state. Assam has so far covered 95 per cent of the eligible population with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 71 per cent with the second dose, he said. The state is also administering the precaution dose (booster dose) to frontline workers and senior citizens, along with conducting the inoculation drive for teenagers in the age bracket of 15-18 years. The statement said out of the active COVID-19 cases in the state, only seven per cent of patients required hospitalisation till Wednesday. State Health and Family Welfare Minister Keshab Mahanta, Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah, Principal to the Chief Minister Samir Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary, Health, Anurag Goel, NHM Mission Director Lakshamanan S, and others were present during the video conference, it added. The state's COVID-19 tally has increased to 6,38,288 with the detection of 3,238 new cases and three fatalities on Thursday, and the day's positivity rate is 7.87 per cent, a National Health Mission bulletin said. The active caseload in the state is currently 13,785, while the number of cured patients so far is 6,16,964 with the overall recovery rate at 96.66 per cent. While the number of new cases on Thursday decreased marginally by 36 compared to the previous day, the active caseload rose by 1,993. (PTI)

A United Nations report said on Thursday that the deadly wave of COVID-19 Delta variant stole 240,000 lives in India between April and June in 2021 and disrupted economic recovery, and warned that “similar episodes” could take place in the near term. The flagship United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2022 report also said that with the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 unleashing new waves of infections, the human and economic toll of the pandemic are projected to increase again. “In India, a deadly wave of infection with the Delta variant stole 240,000 lives between April and June and disrupted economic recovery. Similar episodes could take place in the near term,” said the report. “Without a coordinated and sustained global approach to contain COVID-19 that includes universal access to vaccines, the pandemic will continue to pose the greatest risk to an inclusive and sustainable recovery of the world economy,” Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin said. As per the information by India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 1,54,61,39,465 vaccinations have been administered so far. The second wave of the COVID19 pandemic had wrecked havoc across India as the death toll increased exponentially and spike in infections burdened the healthcare infrastructure in the country. The country is now witnessing increasing number of cases of the Omicron variant that is soon overtaking the Delta variant of the coronavirus globally. The report noted that South Asia faces major downside risks that can strengthen headwinds in achieving the 2030 Agenda. “Relatively slow vaccination progress leaves the region vulnerable to new variants and recurrent outbreaks. Financial constraints and an inadequate global vaccine supply continue to drag down full recovery in some countries,” it said. As of early December 2021, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan had less than 26 per cent of their populations fully vaccinated. By contrast, the fully vaccinated population is above 64 per cent in Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka, the report said. (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong emphasis on maintaining the momentum of the economy with all due measures to tackle the pandemic is most relevant to minimise damage to livelihoods, India Inc said on Thursday. The Prime Minister on Thursday asked chief ministers to ensure minimum damage to the livelihood of common people and economic activities as they work to contain the coronavirus, while noting that its Omicron variant is infecting people many times faster than earlier strains. Commenting on the Prime Minister's virtual interaction with chief ministers on management of the pandemic, CII President T V Narendran said the industry chamber had suggested a containment strategy based on micro zones — small areas demarcated by district administrations such as mohallas, neighbourhoods, villages and talukas — to monitor and manage the outbreak. By exhorting chief ministers to focus on local containment, economic activities will remain protected and jobs will be preserved, he said. The Prime Minister's “strong emphasis on maintaining the momentum of the economy with all due measures to tackle the pandemic is most relevant to minimise damage to livelihoods,” he added. PHDCCI President Pradeep Multani too said that it is important to maintain the economic momentum along with keeping the Omicron virus at bay, and ensuring a healthier environment for people. (PTI)

Six people succumbed to COVID-19 in Punjab on Thursday, while 6,083 fresh cases took the infection tally to 6,42,182, according to a medical bulletin. A death each was reported from Patiala, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Mohali, raising the the toll due to the pandemic to 16,708 in the state. The number of active cases climbed to 30,384 from 26,781 on Wednesday. The state's positivity rate was 17.02 per cent.

Of the fresh cases, 914 was recorded in Mohali, followed by 776 in Patiala, 731 in Amritsar, 670 in Ludhiana and 514 in Jalandhar. The number of patients requiring oxygen support shot up to 460 from 290 on Wednesday. Nineteen critical patients are on ventilator support, according to the bulletin. A total of 2,330 people recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have recovered to 5,95,090, the bulletin said. Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Chandigarh reported 1,338 COVID-19 cases, taking the total count to 72,641. (PTI)

South Korea on Thursday received its first supply of Pfizer's antiviral COVID-19 pills to treat patients with mild or moderate symptoms. Health officials have described the Paxlovid pills as a potentially important tool to suppress hospitalizations and deaths, as the country braces for another possible surge in infections driven by the contagious omicron variant. South Korea's initial supply is enough to support the required five-day treatment courses for 21,000 people. Officials say another batch of pills, enough to provide the required five-day courses for 10,000 people, will come by the end of January. Workers were seen unloading containers of the pills from a plane at Incheon International Airport. The pills will be moved to a pharmaceutical warehouse in central South Korea before being administered to patients nationwide starting Friday. Because supplies of Paxlovid will be tight at the start amid global shortages, the pills will initially be available only to patients 65 years or older who are being treated at home or in shelters for mild or moderate symptoms. “In clinical trials, this drug has showed it could reduce the risk of hospitalizations or deaths by 88per cent, so we are hoping for a similar level of (real world) effectiveness,” said Lim Sook-young, a senior official in the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is also reviewing whether to grant an emergency use authorization for Merck's antiviral COVID-19 pills, Molnupiravir. (AP)

Thirty BSF jawans reaching Kotdwar in Pauri district from Gujarat on poll duty have tested positive for Covid-19, an official said on Thursday. A total 82 jawans of the BSF's 50th battalion had arrived in Kotdwar from Bhuj in Gujarat for security purposes and 30 of them were tested positive for Covid, Battalion Commander Ritesh Kumar said. Their reports arrived late on Wednesday night, he said. They have been kept in isolation in a part of a school building where they were staying and corona kits were distributed among them, he said. All of them have mild symptoms, he said. (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with chief ministers over the COVID-19 situation in the country and stressed on local containment of the virus spread as well as ensuring minimum damage to livelihood while making strategies to deal with the surge in cases due to the Omicron variant. In his remarks at the meeting, the prime minister underlined the importance of vaccination and the need to further accelerate the 'Har Ghar Dastak' programme to achieve 100 per cent vaccination coverage. “We have vaccinated nearly three crore adolescents within 10 days and this shows India's potential and our preparedness to deal with this challenge,” Modi said. The prime minister said that vaccines made in India are proving their superiority all over the world. “It is a matter of pride for every Indian that today India has given the first dose to about 92 per cent of the adult population. The coverage of second dose has also reached around 70 per cent in the country,” he said. Modi said the central and state governments must continue with pre-emptive, pro-active and collective approach followed so far in fighting the pandemic. “The sooner we give precautionary dose to frontline workers and senior citizens, the stronger our healthcare system will become,” he said. Modi asserted that it is very important to safeguard the economy and livelihood of common people while framing Covid strategies. “There should be minimum damage to the livelihood of the common people, economic activities, and the momentum of the economy be maintained. It is very important to keep these things in mind while making any (containment) strategy,” Modi said. “So it would be better to focus more on local containment,” he added. Modi said 130 crore people of India will surely emerge victorious from the coronavirus pandemic with their collective efforts. The doubts that were there earlier about Omicron are slowly getting cleared now, he noted. The Omicron variant is infecting the general public many times faster than the earlier variants, he added. “We have to be alert, be careful, but we also have to take care that there should be no panic situation,” Modi said. “We have to see that in this festive season the alertness of the people and the administration does not fall short,” he added. The meeting came on a day India logged 2,47,417 new infections, the highest in 236 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,63,17,927, which included 5,488 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data. Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also attended the meeting. Fresh curbs have been imposed in various parts of the country to check the spread of the highly transmissible virus. Reviewing the Covid situation at a high-level meeting on Sunday, Modi had called for ensuring adequate health infrastructure at the district level and accelerating the vaccination drive for adolescents in mission mode. The precaution vaccination drive for healthcare and frontline workers, besides those over 60 years of age with comorbidities, has also started. Vaccination remains among the most effective means to fight Covid, Modi had said. The prime minister had said that a meeting with the chief ministers be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios, best practices and the public health response. (PTI)

Poorer nations last month rejected more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the global programme COVAX, mainly due to their rapid expiry date, a UNICEF official said on Thursday. “More than a 100 million have been rejected just in December alone,” Etleva Kadilli, director of Supply Division at U.N. agency UNICEF told lawmakers at the European Parliament. (Reuters)

Polish scientists have found a gene that they say more than doubles the risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19, a discovery they hope could help doctors identify people who are most at risk from the disease. With vaccine hesitancy a major factor behind high coronavirus death rates in central and eastern Europe, researchers hope that identifying those at greatest risk will encourage them to get a shot and give them access to more intensive treatment options in case of an infection. “After more than a year and a half of work it was possible to identify a gene responsible for a predisposition to becoming seriously ill (with coronavirus),” said Health Minister Adam Niedzielski. “This means that in the future we will be able to… identify people with a predisposition to suffer seriously from COVID.” The researchers from the Medical University of Bialystok found that the gene was the fourth most important factor determining how seriously a person suffers from COVID-19, after age, weight and gender. The gene is present in around 14% of the Polish population, compared to 8-9% in Europe as a whole and 27% in India, said Marcin Moniuszko, the professor in charge of the project. Other studies have also shown the importance of genetic factors in how seriously COVID-19 develops. In November, British scientists said they had identified a version of a gene that may be associated with double the risk of lung failure from COVID-19. (Reuters)

The number of containment zones in Delhi has seen an almost 17-fold rise from 1,243 zones on January 1 to 20,878 zones on January 12 amid rising coronavirus cases in the city. The increase in the number of containment zones has been proportional to the surge in infections in the national capital.

According to district officials, emphasis is being laid on mirco containment to arrest the spread of the infection. Normally, an area is designated as a containment zone where three or more COVID-19 cases in a family or in the neighbourhood are detected. It is a dynamic exercise conducted by district authorities seeing the situation and the number of infections, they said. “Every district magistrate (DM) has to assess the situation in the area. At times, even if there is a single case in a household, the DMs are declaring it a containment zone if there is high rate of infection in that area,” said a senior government official. He said declaring an area a containment zone depends on the assessment of CDMO, district magistrate and district surveillance officer. (PTI)