Omicron Variant Cases and Deaths in India Live, Covid-19 Booster Vaccine Registration January 25 Latest Update: First, some good news! India on Tuesday recorded less than 3 lakh Covid cases, the official data shows. The decline is continuing for the last 48 hours. Around 30,000 fewer infections were detected on Monday, which brought the national Covid tally closer to 3-lakh mark. On Tuesday, it further declined to 2,55,874 Covid-19 infections. This is 50,190 cases less than Monday. Other indicators such as positivity rate and active cases have also improved. India’s positivity rate as of January 25 stands at 15.52 per cent. On Monday, this figure was at 20.75 per cent. On the other hand, the number of active cases has also dropped to 22,36,842. However, it is the fatalities figure that is still in alarming red. The government report shows that 614 people succumbed to Covid-related issues in the span of 1 day. These are much higher Covid deaths than what India saw on Monday. There has been an increase of over 200 Covid deaths in the last 24 hours.
Is the notion of ‘mild’ effects helping in spread of Omicron variant? The data says so. Scientists have repeatedly said that it’s is much more transmissible than the Delta variant of the Coronavirus. Yet, it has resulted in any greater degree of mask discipline among people either in India or around the globe. Talking about situation at home, latest study has said that India will see the worst of Omicron-led third wave in about next 15 days with numbers reaching the peak. The weekend saw a consistent trend of over 3 lakh cases each day. To add to the grim scenario, the latest observation by INSACOG has revealed that the community spread is happening in several metro cities in India. While local authorities have refuted the claims of lesser testing, the data suggest that every time we see fewer cases, the tests conducted in the region also show a decline.
Elsewhere, China is still grappling with the contagion as it readies for the Winter Olympics. Europe is also looking at new surge. Omicron has also spread in New Zealand resulting in PM Jacidna Adern cancelling her wedding plans.
Watch this space for latest, verified Omicron-Coronavirus updates from India and across the world:
Coronavirus India Live News: Covid-19 Omicron Cases in India Live Count, Coronavirus Lockdown, Omicron Latest News Today, Omicron Lockdown News, Omicron Night Curfew Guidelines and Restrictions Live Updates January 25 latest Covid news
A newly-wed couple and their family members were arrested in Gujarat's Valsad for allegedly violating the night curfew, which has been enforced in several cities to contain the spread of coronavirus, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Monday night when the couple, still in their wedding attire, and their family members travelling in three cars were intercepted on an overbridge around 12.20 am, deputy superintendent of police Manojsinh Chavda said. While the couple claimed that they were made to spend nearly two hours at Valsad city police station on their wedding night, police officials said the duo and their family members were let go once the legal process was completed. (PTI)
Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar's health has “marginally improved” but she continues to remain in the ICU, her family said on Tuesday. The 92-year-old singer tested positive for coronavirus with mild symptoms and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai on January 8. The Mangeshkar family, through the official account of the singer, once again asked people to not indulge in spreading “disturbing rumours” about her health condition. (PTI)
Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya reviews public health preparedness to COVID-19 & vaccination progress with 9 States/UTs; urges them to focus on tele-consultation like eSanjeevani, and efficient monitoring of those in home isolation (ANI)
Three Indian-origin youths were among four people charged in a Singapore court on Tuesday for flouting Covid-19 rules in a New Year party held at a popular river-side spot. The chargings came after videos went viral online showing large crowds at Clarke Quay area on Dec 31, 2021. The COVID-19 multi-ministry task force had called the impromptu gathering “a potential superspreading event”, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported. The three youths — Harjaz Singh, Verma Pulkit and Kotra Venkata Sai Rohankrishna — along with William Alexander Brooks-Potts faced charges, including for failing to keep a one metre safe distance and not wearing a mask near Read Bridge at Clarke Quay at midnight on Jan 1, 2022, The Straits Times reported. (PTI)
Current COVID-19 vaccines prompt the body to make effective, long-lasting T cells against SARS-CoV-2 that can recognise variants of concern, including Omicron, and protect from severe disease, a study has found. The research, published in the journal Cell, also shows that fully vaccinated people have fewer memory B cells and neutralising antibodies against the Omicron variant. Both T and B cells play an important role in the immune response against an infection. Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) in the US tested four COVID-19 vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, J&J/Janssen, and Novavax. “The vast majority of T cell responses are still effective against Omicron,” said study co-leader Alessandro Sette, a professor at LJI. (PTI)
Health experts say that states and Centre should tweak the testing protocols. An Indian Express report says that health experts have said that instead of testing the travelers on the airports, local authorities should look at the clinical samples collected at the hospitals and keeping a tab on the patients admitted in the ICUs. Along with this, randomised testing in larger pool of people is the need of the hour.
An expert panel on Tuesday advised the Israeli government to begin offering a fourth vaccine dose to everyone over the age of 18, citing research showing it helps prevent COVID-19 infection and severe illness. The advisory committee said research shows a fourth dose provides three to five times the level of protection against serious disease and double the protection against infection compared to three doses. The Health Ministry's director must approve the recommendation.
London police said Tuesday they are now investigating Downing Street parties during lockdown. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick revealed an investigation was underway in a statement before the London Assembly. Dick said that Scotland Yard is now investigating ‘a number of events’ at Downing Street. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has been under fire for allegedly holding events during months in which the nation was under lockdown because of COVID-19. (AP)
Hong Kong expanded a partial lockdown and tightened pandemic restrictions Tuesday after more than 200 cases of COVID-19 were discovered at a public housing estate. Hong Kong has already suspended many overseas flights and requires arrivals be quarantined, similar to mainland China's ’zero-tolerance’ approach to the virus that has placed millions under lockdowns and mandates mask wearing, rigorous case tracing and mass testing. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said a second residential block at the Kwai Chung housing complex would be locked down for five days. The block where the virus was first discovered is already under lockdown, which will now be extended from five to seven days. AP
Russia reported a record number of COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours on Tuesday as the Omicron variant of the virus spread across the country, the government coronavirus task force said.New daily cases jumped to 67,809, from 65,109 a day earlier. The task force also reported 681 deaths. – Reuters
Germany expects to receive 3.8 million doses of Novavax's newly approved COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid by March 20, the health ministry said on Tuesday, as the government looks to persuade unvaccinated Germans to get a shot.Germany will receive 1.4 million doses in the week of Feb. 21 and should receive the rest of the 3.8 million doses in the subsequent few weeks.Novavax is expected to deliver 34 million doses to Germany this year. The shipment is a part of the U.S. drugmaker's deal to supply up to 200 million doses to the European Union's 27 member states.Novavax's protein-based vaccine, which was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in December, uses alternative technology to the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, , Moderna, AstraZeneca and J&J .This could convince reluctant Germans, sceptical about the novel mRNA technology and its long-term effects, to take Novavax's more traditional vaccine and boost Germany's vaccination rate, which is lower than other western European countries. – Reuters
Researchers in the US have developed a low-cost smartphone based diagnostic tool for COVID-19 that combines the speed of over-the-counter antigen tests with the accuracy of PCR tests. The Harmony COVID-19 test developed by researchers at the University of Washington in the US detects genetic material from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the researchers said. While the conventional PCR tests can take several hours, the Harmony kit can provide results in less than 20 minutes for some samples and with similar accuracy, they said. “We designed the test to be low-cost and simple enough that it could be used anywhere,” said Bary Lutz, an associate professor at the University of Washington. – PTI
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that his government does not want livelihood of people to be affected and Covid restrictions will be eased as soon as possible. Restrictions were put in place in view of people's health, Kejriwal said after hoisting the national flag at the Delhi government's Republic Day function. “Delhiites have suffered the most due to Covid. We don't want that your livelihood is affected but your health is important, so we had to put restrictions,” he said. Recently, the Delhi government's proposal to lift weekend curfew and odd-even scheme of opening shops in view of the improving Covid situation here was turned down by the Lieutenant Governor (L-G). – PTI
The Czech Republic recorded 30,350 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the highest daily tally since pandemic started in the country of 10.7 million as the Omicron variant of coronavirus spreads, health ministry data showed on Tuesday.The country is bracing for a surge in cases from the new variant which could peak this month, the health minister has said. – Reuters
Puducherry witnessed a rise in number of daily coronavirus cases with 1911 fresh infections being reported during the last 24 hours ending 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The new cases were reported at the end of examination of 5,191 samples. The total infection count stood at 1,55,254. The active cases also shot up to 16,394 (223 in hospitals and 16,171 in home quarantine) as against 15,632 cases on Monday. The fresh cases identified today were spread over Puducherry 1410, Karaikal 331, Mahe 19 and Yanam 151. Director of Health G Sriramulu said the Department of Health has tested so far 21,36,582 samples and found 17, 97,357 out of them to be negative. – PTI
Odisha recorded 5,891 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, 19 per cent less than the previous day, as the number of clinical tests registered a significant drop over the past two days, the health department said. The tally in the coastal state climbed to 12,17,842, the department stated. The toll mounted to 8,532 with seven more deaths, including three in Khurda. Fifty-three COVID-19 patients have died due to comorbidities in the past, it said. The infections are the lowest in a fortnight. The state had reported 11,086 cases exactly a week ago. On Monday, it logged 7,291 new cases and five deaths. The test positivity rate stood at 9.85 per cent as 59,807 samples were examined in the past 24 hours, down from 61,969 on Sunday and 72,524 on Saturday. – PTI
While the nature of the cases in this wave are much more ‘milder’ than the Delta disasters, health experts have warned that this may not hold true in long run. An Indian Express report says that Covid experts have likened the Omicron transmission to a cyclone. Dr Shashank Joshi, who is a member of Maharashtra’s Covid-19 task force, says this is not a wave, this a cyclone. A tsunami of infections that can impact the already exhausted healthcare infrastructure in the country. He says that since almost 90 per cent cases are asymptomatic the focus is on the at-risk patients.
Lok Sabha member from East Delhi Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has mild symptoms. “After experiencing mild symptoms, I tested positive for Covid today. Requesting everyone who came into my contact to get themselves tested,” the cricketer-turned-politician tweeted. In November last year, Gambhir had isolated himself at home after a family member tested positive for the virus. PTI
Despite the steep surge in cases since mid-December, India had been keeping the stance that the coronavirus cases are happening in specific localities and fresh infections are only cluster based. This meant that the rise in cases was happening in certain districts of the country. However, now that India has finally accepted the fact the Omicron variant is spreading via community transmission, it means that the impact of the virus is not localised. This also means that checking on airports etc may not help much. Community transmission is the final stage of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. Now that India has opened up about community transmission, it is up to public at large to exercise restrain. Because most of the cases either of undetected or patients are asymptomatic, resulting in an illusion of low-risk scenario.
The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded more COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases as 91 people recuperated from the disease while 86 new infections pushed the tally to 9,452, a health department official said on Tuesday. The archipelago now has 598 active COVID-19 cases, while 8,725 people have recovered from the disease, he said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 129 as no fresh fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, the official said. The union territory had reported 89 new COVID-19 cases and 50 recoveries on Monday. The administration has so far tested 6,81,572 samples for COVID-19 and the cumulative test positivity rate is 1.39 per cent. A total of 6,03,236 beneficiaries have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine of whom 3,04,064 have received the first dose and 2,99,172 both doses of the vaccine, the official added. PTI
Britain said on Tuesday it needed to recruit 6,000 more people onto a trial of Merck's COVID-19 antiviral pill molnupiravir to inform how the drug can be rolled out more widely.Britain's MHRA medicine regulator approved the pill, made by Merck and Ridgeback Therapeutics, in November, and the government launched a national study to establish the best way to use the drug.The health ministry said that while 4,500 trial participants had signed up, thousands more were needed to gather the data needed.The study, called Panoramic, was launched to assess how the antiviral should be used in a largely vaccinated population, given it was assessed in clinical trials on unvaccinated people.”Antivirals are a hugely important addition to our response to COVID-19,” said Eddie Gray, chair of the UK's Antivirals Taskforce. – Reuters
The health ministry has released the morning bulletin with the latest Covid tally for January 25 today. The official data shows that India's daily Covid cases saw a big decline with 2,55,874 new cases recorded today. This is over 50,000 less cases in comparison with Monday. The biggest worry, however, is the death tally. More than 600 Covid deaths have been registered in the last 24 hours, the official data shows.
South Korea's daily count of new coronavirus cases topped 8,000 for the first time on Tuesday, as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads rapidly despite the recent extension of strict social-distancing rules to slow infection.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 8,571 cases for Monday, exceeding the previous peak posted in mid-December of 7,848.The new record came amid the spread of the more transmissible but less deadly Omicron variant, which became dominant in the country last week, and despite less testing over the weekend.South Korea reinstated tougher distancing curbs in December as record-breaking numbers of daily cases and critically ill patients threatened to saturate its medical system before the Omicron wave hit. – Reuters
A New York judge struck down the state's mask mandate on Monday, one week before it was due to expire, ruling the governor overstepped her authority in imposing a rule that needed to have been passed by the state legislature.Judge Thomas Rademaker of New York State Supreme Court on Long Island found that the state legislature last year curbed any governor's ability to issue decrees, such as a mask mandate, amid a declared state of emergency.It was latest setback for executive branch officials at state and federal levels. – Reuters
About two dozen cases of COVID-19 have been recorded among the crew of an Australian warship expected to arrive in coronavirus-free Tonga on Wednesday to deliver humanitarian aid, Australian authorities said on Tuesday.Tonga, hit by a massive volcanic eruption and a tsunami on Jan. 15, has asked for aid to be delivered without human contact amid concerns a COVID outbreak would be devastating for the tiny Pacific island nation. Australia's Defence Minister Peter Dutton said 23 personnel aboard the HMAS Adelaide have tested positive for COVID. The ship, with a crew of about 600, left Brisbane on Friday carrying large quantities of humanitarian aid and medical supplies, helicopters and water purification equipment, as well as an Australian Army engineer contingent.The ship is due to arrive in Tonga early on Wednesday, the department of defence said. Reuters
Any contagion has been always linked with travelers. Same is the case of coronavirus pandemic. In early stages of the pandemic, the officials have always been able to detect and establish the chain of events that led to an infection. It also means that if a traveler A visited city X in India and infected person B, the chain of events can be traced back to traveler A and the point or source of infection is identified. This was what was happening in early phase of contagion in 2020. Now that the Centre has admitted to the community transmission of Omicron, it simply means that it can’t trace back the origin of the infection. The people who are being infected or are infecting others are likely to be asymptomatic, hence it is very difficult to establish chain of events. In simple words, the virus is spreading locally, within communities and it is not a result of some traveler visiting from a foreign location.
Amid rising cases, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a critical meeting with the Chief Ministers of 9 states/UTs today. Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh are among the states/UTs participating in this virtual meet.
