Omicron Variant Cases and Deaths in India Live, Covid-19 Booster Vaccine Registration Latest Update: In what may come as a sigh of relief for the country reeling under the effects of the Covid-19 third wave, an analysis by researchers of IIT-Madras has shown that the R-value rate at which infection spreads has come down to 1.57 in the week between January 14 and January 21. Accordingly, this indicates that the national peak of the Omicron variant-driven wave is expected in the next two weeks.
R-value indicates the number of people whom an infected person can pass the virus to. An R-value of less than 1 shows an ebb in the pandemic.
The IIT-Madras analysis shows that between January 14 and 21 the R-value was recorded at 1.57 — this was considerably lower than 2.2 R-value in the week between Januwary 7 and 13, and a recorded value of 4 between January 1 to 6 and an R-value of 2.9 between December 25 and 31.
As per the preliminary analysis done by computational modeling by IIT Madras’ Department of Mathematics and Centre of Excellence for Computational Mathematics and Data Science headed by Prof Neelesh S Upadhye and Prof S Sundar — the R-value of Mumbai was 0.67, Delhi 0.98, Chennai 1.2 and Kolkata 0.56.
COVID-19 cases in Delhi drop below 10,000
Delhi on Sunday reported 9,197 fresh COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths, while the positivity rate dropped to 13.32 per cent, according to data shared by the health department.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu tests COVID-19 positive
Sunday lockdown in Kerala — Here’s what’s allowed:
The one-day lockdown to mitigate the rapid spread of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala began on Sunday with only emergency services being operated in the state.
A high-level COVID review meeting had on Thursday decided that only essential services should be allowed on the two Sundays — January 23 and 30.
Shops selling essential items such as milk, newspaper, fish, meat, fruits and vegetables and provisions are allowed to function from 7 AM to 9 PM. Most of the private vehicles kept away from the road except for those who were traveling for emergency purposes and that too after providing necessary documents proving the nature of emergency to the police.
Those who are traveling to airports or already booked tourist destinations can travel after showing necessary documents including tickets to the police officers who are engaged in vehicle checking across the state. Only parcel services are allowed at hotels and medical stores, media houses and telecom-Internet services are allowed to function despite curbs.
India reports 3,33,533 new COVID cases, 525 deaths in last 24 hrs
India logged 3,33,533 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,92,37,264, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The active cases have increased to 21,87,205, while the death toll has climbed to 4,89,409 with 525 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 5.57 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.18 per cent, the ministry said.
An increase of 73,840 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
Financial Express Online brings you the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus India Live News: Covid-19 Omicron Cases in India Live Count, Coronavirus Lockdown, Night Curfew Guidelines and Restrictions Live Updates
Gujarat on Sunday reported 16,617 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in the last five days, which raised the tally of infections to 10,62,555, the state health department said. With 19 fatalities, the highest during the ongoing third wave so far in Gujarat, the death toll went up to 10,249. Gujarat is now left with 1,34,837 active cases. 258 patients are on ventilator support, the health department said in a release. A total of 11,636 patients were discharged during the day, increasing the number of recoveries in the state to 9,17,469. Ahmedabad district reported the highest number of 6,277 cases during the day in the state, followed by Vadodara which added 3,655 cases, Surat 2,151, and Rajkot 621 cases. – PTI
Results of 875 people, who were tested for Covid in Parliament, have returned positive, sources said on Sunday, days before the start of its Winter Session. The data, they said, is of tests conducted since the beginning of the third wave of the pandemic till January 20. The session is scheduled to start from January 31 and its first part will conclude on February 11. As many as 2,847 tests have been conducted in Parliament since the starting of the third wave, and out of these results of 875 returned positive, the sources said. Out of the total tests, 915 were conducted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and 271 samples were found to be positive for the infection, they said. According to the sources, the session will be held following Covid-related protocols. – PTI
Mumbai on Sunday reported 2,550 new coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally of infections to 10,34,833. The death toll rose to 16,535 after 13 more patients succumbed to the coronavirus infection, the city civic body said. A statement from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's health department said that 84 per cent or 2,142 of the 2,550 new patients are asymptomatic. It said 337 more patients were hospitalised of whom 40 are on oxygen support. The percentage of occupied beds out of the total beds available in Mumbai is 10.6 per cent, it said. A total of 217 patients were discharged in Mumbai on Sunday, which raised the number of recoveries to 9,95,786. Mumbai is now left with 19,808 active cases. With 45,993 new tests, the number of samples examined so far in the Maharashtra capital has gone up to 1,49,77,218, as per the statement. Mumbai's recovery rate is 96 per cent. The case doubling rate is 125 days. PTI
India's AFC women's Asian Cup match against Chinese Taipei called off after 12 home team players test positive for COVID-19: AIFF source. PTI
Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh on Sunday virtually reviewed the COVID-19 pandemic situation and other related issues in his Lok Sabha constituency in the wake of the third wave of coronavirus. He held the meeting with deputy commissioners, DDC Chairpersons and SSPs of the Udhampur-Kathua-Doda Lok Sabha constituency, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said in a statement. Singh — Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space — enquired about the availability and functioning of dashboard in districts for real time updates and also issued fresh instructions to deal with the surge in cases. – PTI
The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak during the third wave is low as compared to the second wave and the death rate has remained at an average of one individual succumbing to 1,000 cases, a senior Tamil Nadu government official said on Sunday. Unvaccinated individuals and those eligible to receive the 'precautionary booster dose' also pose a risk to contracting the contagion and this has emerged as a larger point of view of the medical experts who met here, Health Department Principal Secretary J Radhakrishnan said here. “The death rate during the second wave of COVID-19 was 1:100 and during the third wave it was 1:1,000. That is, if there are 30,000 cases reported, we have 30 people succumbing to the virus,” he said. “The view of medical experts is that the severity of the disease is low this time… And this (death rate) is an example to that,” he told reporters. – PTI
318 new COVID-19 cases take Meghalaya's tally to 88,459, one more fatality pushes death toll to 1,497: Health department official (PTI)
Andhra Pradesh reported 14,440 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday, reminding the pandemic's peak days during the second wave in May-June last year.
Consequently, the number of active cases climbed further up to 83,610.
The daily positivity rate was about 32 per cent from 46,650 sample tests in 24 hours.
According to the latest bulletin, 3,969 infected people got cured while four more succumbed in the state.
The state Covid-19 chart showed 21,80,634 total positives, 20,82,482 recoveries and 14,542 deaths till date.
Visakhapatnam district reported the highest 2,258 fresh cases, followed by Anantapuramu with 1,534, Guntur 1,458, Prakasam 1,399, Kurnool 1,238, Chittoor 1,198, SPS Nellore 1,103 and East Godavari 1,012.
Srikakulam registered 921, Kadapa 788, Vizianagaram 614, West Godavari 613 and Krishna 304 new cases.
East Godavari, Guntur, Prakasam and Visakhapatnam districts reported one fresh fatality each in a day. PTI DBV (PTI)
Delhi on Sunday reported 9,197 fresh COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths, while the positivity rate dropped to 13.32 per cent, according to data shared by the health department.
The health bulletin showed 69,022 Covid tests were conducted in the capital the previous day. | Read More
Seventy-six doctors of the premier Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur in Maharashtra have tested positive for coronavirus in the last 10 days, a functionary of doctors' body MARD said on Sunday.
These doctors showed mild symptoms, while 22 have recovered since and have rejoined work, said Dr Sajal Bansal, president of GMCH unit of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD).
“Two doctors have been hospitalized and are in stable condition. Fifty-two are in home isolation,” he added. (PTI)
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 will hang around for a while but then it will die down. Delta variant is on its way out, its unlikely that Delta will survive in the all run:Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, who is advising Covid task force at IMA Kochi, Kerala (ANI)
Delhi reports 9,197 new COVID-19 cases, 13,510 recoveries and 34 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Active cases 54,246
Positivity rate 13.32% (ANI)
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the decision to reopen schools for primary classes to XII from Monday was taken after complete thought was given to the issue.
Schools were shut last month after a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state. | Read More
ULFA (I) abstains from calling bandh on Republic Day due to COVID-19 situation (PTI)
Covid-19 Omicron variant in community transmission stage: The Omicron variant of coronavirus has become dominant in multiple metros and is in a community transmission, confirms INSACOG. The cases have also been rising exponentially in various places, said the government body.
Also, it has been confirmed that BA.2 lineage, an infectious sub-variant of Omicron, has been detected in a substantial fraction in the country. | Read More
A total of 875 people tested positive for the virus in the Parliament House complex so far. These include 271 people in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat (ANI)
Filmmaker Selvaraghavan on Sunday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and asked those who came in contact with him to get checked for the virus.
The 44-year-old director, known for films like “Nenjam Marappathillai”, “NGK” and “Mayakkam Enna” took to Twitter to update his followers about his COVID diagnosis.
“I have just tested positive today, 23/01/2022, for COVID-19. If anyone has come in contact with me in the last two to three days kindly consult your physician on what you should be doing.
“Please stay vigilant. Urging everyone to mask up and stay safe, K. Selvaraghavan,” the director, brother of south star Dhanush, wrote.
According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday, India logged 3,33,533 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,92,37,264. (PTI)
Covid fatigue among healthcare professionals is real, says 39-year-old Dr Samir Khurana, recalling how the pandemic and its severe waves in the last two years have left him and many from his fraternity “mentally and physically exhausted”.
But for Khurana (name changed) the biggest fear was he becoming the spreader of the infection at home. “It was a huge part of the already stressful and tiring times we were facing,” he said.
“I vividly remember the day the first Covid case was diagnosed at the medical facility in Delhi that I work in. My shift had just begun and we were updated with the report. I wore my personal protective equipment (PPE) and started treating patients,” he said.
Khurana, who did not want his or the hospital's name to be revealed, said initially he felt claustrophobic in PPE, but “now it has become my uniform”.
“Since 2020, we are constantly on our toes. Covid fatigue is real for healthcare professionals who have been tirelessly working for the past two years,” he said.
Recalling how he lived in a small room on his terrace in isolation after his shift and on some days never returned home, Khurana said, “I had to protect my family, especially my elderly parents who are in their 80s.”
With the pandemic on the verge of entering its third year, Khurana said, “He and many others feel mentally and physically exhausted.”
“My daughter will start kindergarten this year and I feel I have missed the first two years of her life. Even now I isolate myself from my family members and do not participate in family functions,” he said.
The first case of Covid was reported in India in January 2020 and since then three waves of the virus have struck the country, infecting over 3.92 crore people and claiming 4.89 lakh lives.
India is currently reeling under the third wave of Covid which is driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Experts say the pandemic has put healthcare professionals through an extreme test of resilience both physically and mentally.
Medical officer in-charge at a government health facility in Delhi, Dr Sajid Anwar, said when the pandemic began, panic and hysteria was all around.
“More than maintaining our safety it was necessary that our patients followed safety measures which they were not. They would not wear masks properly, and didn't maintain proper distancing while waiting. Even those with symptoms were not willing to get tested,” he said.
Anwar said though people are now aware of norms he still worries about the safety of his family.
“On the work front I was confident that I could manage my patients, but personally it was a very difficult time. My daughter was two months old. For her safety, I sent her and my wife to her grandparent's house. Unfortunately, my wife got infected,” he said.
It was a stressful time, Anwar said, adding that the pandemic has taken a huge mental and physical toll on the healthcare fraternity.
Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said in the beginning not much was known about Covid and this caused stress among doctors, especially on exposure and spreading the infection at home.
“There was also stress regarding treatment of patients because outcomes were not known, and many patients wanted details of their treatment and clear-cut answers to their queries,” he said.
During the second wave due to lack of facilities, hospital beds and appropriate care, it became very stressful for doctors to see their patients suffering, Chatterjee said.
Though there was immense stress and shortages, doctors were able to cope up. This is because of their training, he said, adding that “they know that life is unpredictable and are mentally and physically trained for any situation”.
He advised that the best practice for tackling Covid fatigue is to continue doing what they enjoy.
To keep themselves mentally fit and tackle Covid fatigue, people and healthcare professionals alike must pursue their hobbies and the things they are passionate about. Many are doing this, Chatterjee said.
As of November last year, the number of registered medical practitioners in India is more than 13 lakhs.
Dr Prakriti Poddar, managing trustee, Poddar Foundation, said cognitive behavioural therapy can also help caregivers deal with personal issues be it work-related or at home.
“Engaging in brain exercises before and after work is a good way to stay positive and healthy. Yoga has many mental exercises that can be beneficial. Apart from that healthcare providers should build a support system apart from family members and hospital peers,” she said.
“Friends and neighbours can be a strong support system. Music, dance, art therapies can calm the mind and bring about positivity and enhance creativity,” Poddar said.
Many hospitals these days are introducing music and art based therapy for their staff, she said.
Dr Manju Gupta, senior consultant, obstetrician and gynaecologist, Motherhood Hospitals, Noida, said the dedication and work of doctors continues even as the pandemic enters its third year.
“To cope with the third wave, we have been taking all safety precautions to protect not just our staff but also the patients. The doctors continue to provide teleconsultations despite being sick themselves. Making sure the patients can access our services whenever they need us has been our priority, especially in these tough times,” Gupta said.
During the pandemic, as on November 29 last year, families of 1,509 health workers, who died due to COVID-19-related duties, have been paid insurance claims of Rs 50 lakh each. (PTI)
Around 50 staffers of the civil hospital in Gujarat's Rajkot city, including doctors and nurses, have tested coronavirus positive, an official said Sunday.
Since none of them are in a serious condition, they are undergoing treatment in home isolation, Superintendent of Civil Hospital R S Trivedi said.
“Healthcare staff members of the hospital, who come in direct contact with the patients, were tested for COVID-19. Almost 50 of them, including paramedical staff, nurses and doctors, were found infected. But the good thing is that nobody is in a serious condition, and most of them are in home isolation,” he told reporters.
On Thursday, Gujarat had recorded 24,485 infections, its highest single-day spike, pushing up the state's tally above the 10-lakh mark. Gujarat's tally of active cases has also crossed the one-lakh mark, and is currently at 1.29 lakh, with a total 244 patients being kept on ventilators, as per the health department's Saturday evening release.
There are 7,653 active cases in Rajkot district at present, as per the state health department's COVID-19 dashboard. The district has so far reported 69,414 infection cases and 61,025 recoveries, with 736 patients dying so far, as per the health department update. (PTI)
Omicron has gone into a stage where it's more into community spread than only by travelers from abroad, given the rise in COVID cases…but it's unlike Delta. People recover early in case of Omicron: Dr. Vivek Nangia, Principal Director, Pulmonology, Max Hospital (ANI)
India's R-value which indicates the rate of spread of coronavirus has further reduced to 1.57 in the week from January 14-21 and the national peak of the third wave of the infection is expected to come in the next fortnight, according to a preliminary analysis by IIT Madras.
R-value indicates the number of people an infected person can spread the disease to. A pandemic is considered to end if this value goes below 1.
According to the analysis shared by IIT Madras with PTI, the R-value was recorded at 1.57 between January 14 and January 21. The number was recorded at 2.2 in the week of January 7-13 while it was 4 from January 1-6 and 2.9 from December 25- 31.
The preliminary analysis was done by computational modeling by IIT Madras' Department of Mathematics and Centre of Excellence for Computational Mathematics and Data Science headed by Prof Neelesh S Upadhye and Prof S Sundar.
According to the data, the R-value of Mumbai was 0.67, Delhi 0.98, Chennai 1.2 and Kolkata 0.56.
Explaining further, Dr Jayant Jha, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, IIT Madras, said the R-value of Mumbai and Kolkata shows that peak is over there and it is becoming endemic while for Delhi and Chennai it is still close to 1.
“The reason for that could be that as per the new ICMR guidelines they have removed the requirement for contact tracing and therefore there are less infections as earlier,” he told PTI.
Apex health body the ICMR has issued guidelines as per which contacts of coronavirus patients do not need testing unless identified as high-risk based on age or comorbidities.
Jha further said as per their analysis, the coronavirus peak is likely to come in the next 14 days till February 6.
The earlier prediction was that the peak of the third wave is likely between February 1 and February 15.
The third wave of COVID-19 is being driven by the Omicron variant. India logged 3,33,533 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising the tally to 3,92,37,264. (PTI)
The men's singles final of the Syed Modi India International badminton tournament here on Sunday was declared as a 'No Match' after one of the finalists tested positive for COVID-19.
The all-French clash was scheduled between Arnaud Merkle and Lucas Claerbout.
“The men's singles final of the Syed Modi India International 2022 has been declared a 'No Match'. BWF can confirm one of the finalists tested positive for COVID-19 this morning,” the Badminton World Federation said in a statement.
“The other finalist is deemed a close contact and has also been withdrawn. Details on winner status, world ranking points and prize money will be revealed in due course. Today's other four finals will go ahead as scheduled,” the BWF added.
Top seed P V Sindhu will play in the women's singles final against fellow Indian Malvika Bansod later in the day. (PTI)
Karnataka on Sunday achieved 100 per cent coverage of first dose of COVID-19 vaccine among its eligible population, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said.
He also claimed that Karnataka became the first state in the country to achieve this feat.
“We made it! It took us exactly 1 year and 7 days to achieve 100% first dose coverage! Karnataka is the first state in the country (over 4 crore adult population) to achieve this feat! Kudos to all health workers and district administration on this stellar achievement!”, Sudhakar tweeted.
According to the data shared by him, Gadag district achieved 105 per cent vaccination of its eligible population with the first dose whereas inoculation coverage in Bidar, Bagalkote and Vijayapura districts, was 104 per cent of the population. (PTI)
In what may come as a sigh of relief for the country reeling under the effects of the Covid-19 third wave, an analysis by researchers of IIT-Madras has shown that the R-value rate at which infection spreads has come down to 1.57 in the week between January 14 and January 21. Accordingly, this indicates that the national peak of the Omicron variant-driven wave is expected in the next two weeks.
R-value indicates the number of people whom an infected person can pass the virus to. An R-value of less than 1 shows an ebb in the pandemic.
The IIT-Madras analysis shows that between January 14 and 21 the R-value was recorded at 1.57 — this was considerably lower than 2.2 R-value in the week between Januwary 7 and 13, and a recorded value of 4 between January 1 to 6 and an R-value of 2.9 between December 25 and 31.
As per the preliminary analysis reported by PTI and done by computational modeling by IIT Madras' Department of Mathematics and Centre of Excellence for Computational Mathematics and Data Science headed by Prof Neelesh S Upadhye and Prof S Sundar — the R-value of Mumbai was 0.67, Delhi 0.98, Chennai 1.2 and Kolkata 0.56.
Ladakh reported 283 fresh COVID-19 cases, raising its tally to 24,496, officials said on Sunday.
Leh district reported 248 fresh cases and Kargil district 35, they added.
According to the officials, no Covid death was reported in the past 24 hours in the union territory and the death toll remained unchanged at 222 — 164 fatalities in Leh and 58 in Kargil.
Ninety more patients were discharged from hospitals in Leh and 19 in Kargil after undergoing successful treatment, taking the number of recovered cases in Ladakh to 22,999.
There are 1,275 active cases in the UT. Of them, 1056 are under treatment in Leh and 219 in Kargil, the officials said.
They said the positivity rate was 3.9 per cent (PTI)
The customs department has given time till September 30 for the re-export high-quality containers which have been imported for efficient transportation of liquid medical oxygen during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
In a circular to field formations, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said it has received representations through the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for providing relaxations in the re-export of ISO containers imported temporarily for combating the Covid pandemic.
Such containers have been used for efficient transportation of liquid medical oxygen due to the inherent advantage related to multi-modal transportation (by road/rail/waterways/airways).
“Board hereby guides all the field formations to allow extension of time period for re-exports of ISO containers meant for transportation of Liquid Medical Oxygen grade, till September 30, 2022, upon receipt of requests from the importers,” the CBIC circular said.
Currently, containers are allowed to be imported duty-free with the condition of re-export in the next six months.
If they are not re-exported within six months or the time limit as given by the CBIC, import duty is levied on such containers.
When the deadly second Covid wave hit India in April-May last year, there was a massive surge in oxygen demand and the government had taken a host of steps to increase domestic availability of medical oxygen. (PTI)
Odisha on Sunday recorded 8,520 coronavirus cases — 325 infections less than the previous day — pushing the tally to 12,04,660, the health department said its bulletin.
On Saturday, the state had logged 8,845 new cases and seven deaths.
The toll mounted to 8,520 with six more fatalities, the bulletin said.
Fifty-three other COVID-19 patients in the state have died due to comorbidities in the past.
At least 11,344 patients recuperated from the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 11,10,767, the department said.
Odisha currently has 85,320 active cases, including 31,501 in Khurda.
The test positivity rate stood at 11.75 per cent
Khurda district, where Bhubaneswar is situated, reported 2,262 new infections, followed by Sundargarh at 932 and Cuttack at 789, it said.
As many as 937 children were among those who contracted the virus in the past 24 hours, the bulletin said.
The coastal state conducted 72,524 sample tests for COVID-19 on Saturday.
Khurda, Sundargarh, Cuttack and Balasore are in the red zone, with each of these districts having over 2,500 active cases.
Puri, Jajpur and Sambalpur are among the 16 districts which are in the yellow zone with over 1,000 COVID-positive patients each. (PTI)
The COVID-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 9,277 on Sunday as 113 more people tested positive for the infection, 18 less than the previous day, a health bulletin said.
Only one new patient has a travel history, while 112 infections were detected during contact tracing, it said.
The Union territory now has 564 active cases, while 8,584 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 65 in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.
The death toll remained unchanged at 129 as no fresh fatality was recorded, it said.
The administration has tested over 6.8 lakh samples for COVID-19, and inoculated more than 2.99 lakh people with two doses of the vaccine to date. (PTI)
Omicron is now in community transmission stage in India and has become dominant in multiple metros: INSACOG (ANI)
Thane district in Maharashtra has reported 2,743 new coronavirus positive cases, which took its infection count to 6,90,601, and the death of 12 patients pushed the number of deceased to 11708, an official said on Sunday.
These cases and fatalities were recorded on Saturday, he said.
Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate is 1.69 per cent at present.
In neighbouring Palghar district, the caseload has grown to 1,59,848 and the death toll stood at 3,358, another official said. (PTI)
Kerala had on Saturday reported 45,136 new positive cases taking the total affected in the state to 55,74,702. The state had on Thursday logged 46,387 cases, the highest single day spike since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. (PTI)
Shops selling essential items such as milk, newspaper, fish, meat, fruits and vegetables and provisions are allowed to function from 7 AM to 9 PM. Most of the private vehicles kept away from the road except for those who were traveling for emergency purposes and that too after providing necessary documents proving the nature of emergency to the police.
Those who are traveling to airports or already booked tourist destinations can travel after showing necessary documents including tickets to the police officers who are engaged in vehicle checking across the state. Only parcel services are allowed at hotels and medical stores, media houses and telecom-Internet services are allowed to function despite curbs. (PTI)
The one-day lockdown to mitigate the rapid spread of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala began on Sunday with only emergency services being operated in the state.
A high-level COVID review meeting had on Thursday decided that only essential services should be allowed on the two Sundays –January 23 and 30. (PTI)
New Zealanders are set to face new COVID-19 restrictions after nine cases of the omicron variant were detected in a single family that flew to Auckland for a wedding earlier this month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Sunday.
The so-called “red setting” of the country's pandemic response includes heightened measures such as required mask wearing and limits on gatherings, and the restrictions will go into effect on Monday.
Ardern stressed that “red is not lockdown”, noting that businesses can remain open and people can still visit family and friends and move freely around the country.
“Our plan for managing omicron cases in the early stage remains the same as delta, where we will rapidly test, contact trace and isolate cases and contacts in order to slow the spread,” Ardern told reporters in Wellington on Sunday.
New Zealand had been among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant, but Ardern acknowledged last week that an outbreak was inevitable given the high transmissibility of the variant.
The country has managed to contain the spread of the delta variant, with an average of about 20 new cases each day. But it has seen an increasing number of people arriving into the country and going into mandatory quarantine who are infected with omicron.
That has put strain on the quarantine system and prompted the government to limit access for returning citizens while it decides what to do about reopening its borders, angering many people who want to return to New Zealand.
About 93 per cent of New Zealanders aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated and 52 per cent have had a booster shot. The country has just begun vaccinating children aged between 5 and 11.
The family from the Nelson-Marlborough region attended a wedding and other events while in Auckland, with estimates suggesting they came into contact with “well over 100 people at these events,” Ardern said.
“That means that omicron is now circulating in Auckland and possibly the Nelson-Marlborough region if not elsewhere,” she added.
The move to the red setting also impacts Ardern personally. The prime minister was planning to get married next weekend, but as a result of the new restrictions the celebration will be postponed.
“I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic and to anyone who's caught up in that scenario, I am so sorry,” she said. (AP)
An increase of 73,840 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. (PTI)
The active cases comprise 5.57 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.18 per cent, the ministry said. (PTI)
Single day rise of 3,33,533 new COVID-19 infections, 525 fatalities push India's tally of cases to 3,92,37,264, death toll to 4,89,409:Govt (PTI)
Pune on Saturday recorded 16,362 COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally in the district to 13,29,378, while 15 deaths pushed the toll to 19,358, a health official said. The district's positivity rate (cases detected per 100 tests) was over 41 percent, he added. | Read More
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 161.92 Cr (1,61,92,84,270) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. (ANI)
Active COVID-19 cases in country rise to 21,87,205:Union Health Ministry (PTI)
India reports 3,33,533 new COVID cases (4,171 less than yesterday), 525 deaths, and 2,59,168 recoveries in the last 24 hours
Active case: 21,87,205
Daily positivity rate: 17.78%) (ANI)
Coronavirus India Live News: Covid-19 Omicron Cases in India Live Count, Coronavirus Lockdown, Night Curfew Guidelines and Restrictions Live Updates
