Medics attend to a patient at the Covid Care Centre of ย Shehnai Banquet Hall ย New Delhi, Wednesday.Coronavirus Omicron India LIVE News: The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said bed occupancy or hospitalisation is significantly lower in third wave in comparison to that in the second. DG-ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava, while briefing the media on Covid-19 situation in the country, also said that the number of deaths have considerably reduced due to vaccinations. “In this third surge of Covid-19, we are currently not witnessing severe illness and deaths due to high vaccination uptake,” Bhargava said.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that the peak of third Covid-19 wave seems to have gone past in the national capital after it registered a record single-day rise of 28,000 cases. However, he warned that the city is still not out of danger zone while stressing on the need to monitor the trend before easing of restrictions.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry, in its latest guidelines for the management of Covid-19 in children and adolescents, advised against the use of antivirals and monoclonal antibodies for those below the age of 18. India reported more than 3.17 lakh (3,17,532) new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending at 9 am on Thursday, marking a 12 per cent increase in fresh cases since Wednesday. The countryโs active caseload currently stands at 19,24,051, while the recovery rate stands at 93.69 per cent.ย The total tally of Omicron cases rose to 9,287 on Thursday, 3.63 per cent higher than yesterday. As many as 491 Covid patients succumbed to the deadly infection in a day.
Vaccination status of passengers being checked onboard a public bus in Pune.
Kerala on Thursday reported 46,387 new Covid-19, 15,388 recoveries and 32 deaths in the last 24 hours. 309 deaths were added to COVID death list as per the guidelines of central government. Death toll stood at 51,501.
Karnataka Health Minister Sudhakar K Thursday said the state is just 0.1% away from becoming the first large state in India to achieve 100% first dose of vaccination.
Some pointers from Health briefing:
# Asia is showing a sharp surge in global contribution from 7.9% to approx 18.4% in 4 weeks.
# On 20 Jan 2022, India has 3,17,532 new cases, 380 deaths and 19,24,051 active cases.
# In India, the proportion of fully vaccinated people is 72%.
# Till now, 52% of children in the 15-18 age group in India are vaccinated.
"Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, UP, Gujarat, Odisha, Delhi & Rajasthan are among the top 10 States in terms of active cases," Bhushan, Health Secretary, said.
The Health Ministry on Thursday listed Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are among the 'States of Concern'. Rajesh Bhushan, Health Secretary, while briefing on Covid-19 situation, said, "We have sent central health teams to these states and are continuously reviewing the situation."
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said that the peak of third Covid-19 wave seems to have gone past in the national capital after it registered a record single day rise of 28,000 cases. However, he warned that the city is still not out of danger zone while stressing on the need to monitor trend before easing of restrictions.
A third dose of Covid-19 vaccine increases the level of antibodies that can effectively neutralise the Omicron variant of coronavirus, according to a study published in The Lancet journal. Researchers from Francis Crick Institute and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UK, found that antibodies generated in people who had received only two doses of either the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer vaccine were less able to neutralise Omicron as compared to Alpha and Delta variants. (PTI)
Schools across Maharashtra will start to reopen for students of classes 1-12 on Monday after closing due to the Omicron-fuelled third wave. This comes after the recent Covid surge in the state began to show signs of plateauing this week.
Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday became the fifth coronavirus vaccine approved for use in Australia. The country has ordered 51 million doses of the US-manufactured vaccine, supplied under the brand Nuvaxovid, for its population of 26 million. Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines are already in use in Australia. (AP)
The number of new coronavirus infections in Ukraine has more than doubled over the past three days and reached 18,479 cases on Thursday, the country's health ministry said. Ukraine this month offered booster doses of Covid vaccines to all adults, with the first case of Omicron detected in the country in December. (Reuters)
Meanwhile in Thailand, authorities are set to resume the 'Test & Go' quarantine waiver for vaccinated arrivals from Feb. 1, its coronavirus task force said on Thursday, in response to slowing Covid infections. The scheme was suspended a month ago after only seven weeks due to the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant. (Reuters)
Arunachal Pradesh reported 435 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day spike so far this month, as the tally climbed to 57,822, a senior health department official said.
The northeastern state had Wednesday logged 350 infections. Out of Thursday's count, 138 cases were registered in the Capital Complex Region, 40 from West Kameng, Changlang (37), Namsai (35), Lower Dibang Valley (31), Lohit (28), Papumpare (26), Lower Subansiri (23) and East Siang (22), he said.
The death toll remained at 282 as no fresh fatality was reported in the past 24 hours. Arunachal Pradesh now has 1,938 active cases, while 55,602 patients have recovered from the disease thus far, the official said. (PTI)
Puducherry reported 2,783 new Covid-19 cases, 1,073 recoveries and one death in the last 24 hours, according to data released by the UTs government.
Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally climbed to 4,12,939 as 2,617 more people tested positive for the virus, while 12 fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 5,225, a health bulletin said on Thursday.
Ranchi district registered the highest number of new cases at 809, followed by 525 in Jamshedpur, it said. The single-day deaths include five fresh fatalities in Jamshedpur and two in Ranchi.
The state now has 27,422 active cases, while 3,80,292 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 3,769 in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
Stand-up comedian and actor Vir Das on Thursday said he has tested negative for the novel coronavirus. The 42-year-old gave a health update via Instagram and urged people to follow all the necessary Covid-19 guidelines.
"We back. Seriously tho. This thing sucked. Wear a mask, get boosted, take your vitamins, drink snake blood...whatever. It was a LONG two-ish weeks. Still masking around the house. Stay safe," he captioned a reel. (PTI)
Nervous to receive a dose of the coronavirus vaccine, a man in UP's Ballia district climbed a tree to avoid getting the jab. He later agreed to take the vaccine after a group of healthcare workers spoke to him and explained the process, a district official told ANI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to veteran Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal and enquired about his health on Thursday, after the 94-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana. Badal has previously served as the Chief Minister of Punjab.
India logged 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,82,18,773, which includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The active cases rose to 19,24,051, the highest in 234 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,87,693 with 491 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. There has been a 3.63 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Wednesday, the ministry said. Experts said it is not possible to undertake genome sequencing of each and every sample but stressed that the current wave is largely being driven by Omicron.
The active cases comprise 5.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.09 per cent, the ministry said. (PTI)
More than 158.96 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Of these, over 12.72 crore doses are still available.
India reported more than 3.17 lakh (3,17,532) new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, marking a 12 per cent increase in fresh cases since yesterday. The active caseload currently stands at 19,24,051, while the recovery rate is currently at 93.69 per cent.
Hundreds of thousands of deaths occur today due to previously treatable infections — such as lower respiratory and bloodstream infections — because the bacteria that cause them have become resistant to treatment. A comprehensive estimate of the global impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), covering 204 countries and territories and published in The Lancet, has found that 1.27 million people died in 2019 as a direct result of AMR, which is now a leading cause of death worldwide, higher than HIV/AIDS or malaria.
The analysis
The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report used statistical modelling to estimate deaths linked to 23 pathogens and 88 pathogen-drug combinations.
Apart from 12.7 lakh deaths caused directly by AMR (these would not have occurred had the infections been drug-susceptible), another 49.5 lakh deaths were associated with AMR (a drug-resistant infection was implicated, but resistance itself may or may not have been the direct cause of death). HIV/AIDS and malaria were estimated to have caused 8.6 lakh and 6.4 lakh deaths respectively in 2019. Read more.
In what could further underline the importance of vaccination, a new study shows that an infection with the Omicron variant of the Covid virus may not generate broad immunity in unvaccinated individuals that can protect against other variants.
However, the pre-print study from the US shows that in vaccinated individuals, an Omicron infection can boost existing immunity, thereby allowing the individual to fight off another infection better.
The study has been conducted by a team comprising Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco; University of California, Berkeley; California Department of Public Health; and Covid-19testing start-up Curative Inc. Read more.