Coronavirus India Live Updates: India records 2,067 fresh Covid-19 cases; Masks mandatory in Delhi again, Rs 500 fine for violators

Cyprus is further winding down the compulsory use of Covid vaccination certificates and face masks as the country's virus numbers continue to improve.

Health Minister Michael Hadjipantela announced Wednesday that as of May 15, vaccination and recovery certificates will no longer be required to enter most places. However, certificates will still be needed to enter nightclubs, music halls, clinics, hospitals and nursing homes.

Also on the same day, unvaccinated people considered as close contacts of people infected with the coronavirus will no longer have to self-isolate, while compulsory testing for students and teachers will stop. Obligatory mask-wearing in the outdoor areas of bars and restaurants ends on April 22. (AP)

A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people travelling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government's transportation mask mandate on hold.

The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that despite opposition to that requirement that included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56% of Americans favor requiring people on planes, trains and public transportation to wear masks, compared with 24% opposed and 20% who say they're neither in favor nor opposed.

Interviews for the poll were conducted Thursday to Monday, shortly before a federal judge in Florida struck down the national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit. Airlines and airports immediately scrapped their requirements that passengers wear face coverings. (AP)

Various trader associations and RWAs here on Wednesday welcomed the move to make masks mandatory in public places but urged the Delhi government to hold consultations with them before imposing any further restrictions if Covid cases continues to rise in the capital.

Amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in the city, the Delhi government on Wednesday made wearing of masks mandatory in public places and imposed a fine of Rs 500 on violators.

Welcoming the move, Atul Bhargava, president, New Delhi Traders Association, said he never wanted customers to visit shops in Connaught Place without masks and social distancing. (PTI)

Even as some of the States and Union Territories are seeing a significant rise in the number of Covid cases, a top scientist believes that the surge in infection will not lead to the fourth wave by any chance.

Speaking to ANI, former chief scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr R Gangakhedkar said that India has sublineages of the Omicron variant but no new variant has been reported so far and the chances of the fourth wave can’t be seen as of now.

“I don’t think this is the fourth wave by any chance. One thing we have to understand is that the entire world continues to have BA.2 variants, which is infecting people every day,” he said. He further elaborated that due to the opening of schools and colleges, the people have become socially active resultantly the surge in cases is being witnessed. (ANI)

I don't think this is the 4th wave. The entire world continues to witness BA.2 variant affect people across the world. Some of us have misunderstood mandatory use of a mask which has been withdrawn means no fear of acquiring infection: Dr Gangakhedkar, ex- head scientist at ICMR pic.twitter.com/yOKf1L8PDB

— ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2022

Patients hospitalised with Covid pneumonia have a higher risk of developing dementia than those with other types of pneumonia, according to a study. Researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) in the US pulled electronic medical records of 1.4 billion encounters prior to July 31, 2021 in Cerner Real World Data.

They selected patients hospitalised with pneumonia for more than 24 hours. Among 10,403 patients with Covid pneumonia, 312 (3 per cent) developed new onset dementia after recovering, compared to 263 (2.5 per cent) of the 10,403 patients with other types of pneumonia diagnosed with dementia.

“The risk of new onset dementia was more common in Covid pneumonia patients over the age of 70 in our study,” said lead researcher Adnan I. Qureshi, a professor of clinical neurology at the MU School of Medicine. (PTI)

Ninety-seven percent of the samples taken from those who died of Covid in Delhi from January to March had the Omicron variant of coronavirus, according to government data.

Genome sequencing of 578 samples collected from the deceased showed 560 of them had the Omicron variant. The remaining 18 (three percent) had other variants of COVID-19, including Delta, which fuelled the ferocious second wave of infections in April and May last year, and sub lineages.

Overall, the Omicron variant was found in all the 504 samples analysed at genome sequencing laboratories in the capital in March. (PTI)

Schools in Delhi will continue in offline mode but they will have to ensure that Covid protocols are strictly followed, officials said on Wednesday.

Reports of infections from schools have triggered concerns weeks after they opened for offline classes following a two-year gap due to the pandemic. Experts have been warning against closure of schools yet again citing learning losses.

"Schools will not be closed and will continue with offline classes. Schools have been asked to report all cases to the education department and ensure that Covid protocols are followed strictly. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is constantly monitoring the situation in schools," a senior official said. (PTI)

Spain took another step Wednesday toward a sense of normality amid the pandemic by partially ending the near two-year-long obligatory use of masks indoors.

The government decree, passed Tuesday, keeps masks mandatory for visitors and staff in medical centers and nursing homes, although patients won't always be obliged to wear them. Masks will also be mandatory on all forms of public transportation, but not in stations or airports.

It remains unclear what impact the decree will have on workplaces such as public and private company offices, banks, factories and stores as the government is letting employers decide to keep them in use if they deem there is a health risk. (AP)

In the wake of the Centre's advice to monitor and take action to control any emerging spread of coronavirus, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said the Covid situation in the state is under control and there is no need to panic.

Tope's assurance has come a day after the Centre advised Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Mizoram to maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action, if required, in the areas of concern to control any emerging spread of coronavirus.

Speaking to reporters, the minister said the state government is keeping a close tab on the present situation and it will take the "right decision at the right time" based on the prevailing scenario. (PTI)

Odisha recorded eight fresh coronavirus cases and one new fatality on Wednesday, the health department said. There are 110 active Covid cases now, while eight more patients have recuperated, taking the total number of recoveries to 12,78,671, a bulletin stated.

The daily positivity rate was 0.04 per cent and the infections were detected out of 17,865 sample tests. A child was among those who were afflicted with the disease, it added. The Covid death toll mounted to 9,124 as an 80-year-old woman succumbed to the disease in Bhubaneswar.

These have been confirmed as Covid deaths after an audit. Fifty-three other coronavirus patients have died due to comorbidities so far, according to data. The state has logged 12,87,959 cases, out of which 12,78,672 people have recovered so far. (PTI)

India's effective reproduction number (R) for Covid, an indicator of how quickly the infection is spreading, has increased to over one for the first time since January, estimates a researcher from Chennai's Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

The country's R value, steadily increasing over the last few weeks, is 1.07 for the week between April 12-18, according to Sitabhra Sinha. In the preceding April 5-11 week, it was 0.93.

The last time the R was above 1 was in the week between January 16-22, when the value was 1.28, Sinha said. "This increase in R-value is not just because of Delhi but also Haryana and Uttar Pradesh," the mathematician, who has been tracking R for India since the beginning of the pandemic, said. (PTI)

China's commercial capital of Shanghai reported no new Covid infections outside quarantine areas in two districts on Wednesday, fanning hopes that the tide is turning in its pandemic battle, as some factories began to return to work.

State media trumpeted the resumption of production by electric car company Tesla Inc at its Shanghai plant on Tuesday, after a halt of more than three weeks. The U.S. carmaker was on a list of 666 firms the Chinese government said last week would get priority to reopen, or keep operations running, in Shanghai.

"The city's epidemic situation in recent days has shown a downward trend," city health official Wu Qianyu told a daily news conference on Wednesday. "Community spread has been effectively curbed." (Reuters)

With an uptick in the daily cases of Covid-19 in Delhi, the Karnataka government advised the usage of masks in closed spaces as a precautionary measure to prevent a possible spike in the number of cases in the state.

Following a recent spurt in coronavirus cases, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday directed the officials to maintain utmost vigil on the health of children, especially in the NCR districts, and to create awareness about COVID-19 protocol in schools. In the last 24 hours, 103 new positive cases were reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar and 33 in Ghaziabad.     

The chief minister stressed on wearing face masks and vaccinating the remaining population in the National Capital Region districts (Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut, Bulandshahr and Baghpat) and Lucknow. He also directed the officials to make effective use  of public address system to create awareness, a government spokesperson said. (PTI)

Amid concerns about a possible fourth wave of Covid-19, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday said such a situation does not exist in the state as of now, but the government was taking all the required precautionary measures and monitoring rise in cases in other states and countries. He advised people to continue to wear masks, especially at indoor gatherings, as a precautionary measure to control any new spread of infection.        

"There is a report that the number of (COVID) infections have increased in Delhi and few other north Indian states in the last two weeks, but such a situation does not exist in Karnataka. We are closely monitoring things," Sudhakar said. Speaking to reporters here, he said tests are being conducted and genomic sequencing is being done as per norms, to identify the variant.        

"We are in contact with other states as well, and are gathering all the required information. We are also gathering information about the fourth wave in foreign countries, and are taking all the necessary precautions to see to it that things don't go out of control," he added. (PTI)

Puducherry continued to report zero daily cases of COVID-19 as no new infection was detected in the union territory on Wednesday. The number of active cases also dropped to one as two of the three patients in home quarantine for last few days recovered. The overall case load remained 1,65,777 and total recoveries were 1,63,814.

The Department of Health examined 312 samples during last twenty- four hours and found no fresh case. Director of Health G Sriramulu said in a release that the department has examined so far 22,32,187 samples and found 18,77,082 out of them to be negative. (PTI)

Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, the DDMA has directed authorities to begin aggressive testings across the city. During the meeting, health officials were asked to keep a close watch on the B.1.10 and B.1.12 variants of Covid-19, which are likely to be more transmissible. The DDMA sought genome sequencing testing on all RT-PCR positive samples.

Amid an uptick in Covid-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has made After a meeting on Wednesday, the DDMA said a fine of Rs 500 would be imposed on violators. The DDMA also directed authorities to begin aggressive testings across the city.

Recording a 66 per cent jump in daily Covid-19 cases from the previous day, India reported 2,067, new infections Wednesday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The death toll climbed to over 5.22 lakh with 40 fresh fatalities from a single one on Tuesday, the health ministry data also showed.