Omicron Updates: Delhi courts to function on virtual mode from Jan 3-15 over rising Covid cases

Bihar detects first confirmed case of Omicron variant of coronavirus in a 26-year-old man in Patna's Kidwaipuri: State Health Department

As many as 141 Mumbai residents who had not traveled abroad recently tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Thursday, the civic body said.

Out of 153 persons who were found to have Omicron infection in the city, only 12 had international travel history, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

But as per the Maharashtra government's release, issued earlier in the evening, out of 198 Omicron cases reported in the state, a whopping 190 were from Mumbai. The difference in state and BMC statistics could not be reconciled.

As per the BMC update, the tally of Omicron-infected Mumbai residents without history of overseas travel rose to 160. The total of Omicron cases in the city rose to 290.

Of 141 Mumbai residents without travel history who tested positive to Omicron, the highest 21 are from the K-west ward which includes Andheri West, Juhu and Versova, followed by D ward that includes Malabar Hill, Mahalaxmi and Tardeo areas. 

India's R naught value, which indicates spread of COVID-19, is 1.22, the government said on Thursday, warning that cases are increasing, not shrinking, as it highlighted that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat were emerging as states and UTs of concern on the basis of weekly infections and positivity rate.

Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul said there has been an uptick in coronavirus cases since the last few days and some states are showing a trend which is going up.

India recorded the highest single day rise of Omicron infections with 180 fresh cases, taking the total tally of such infections in the country to 961, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Delhi recorded the maximum number of 263 cases followed by Maharashtra at 252, Gujarat 97, Rajasthan 69, Kerala 65 and Telangana 62.

The daily rise in COVID-19 cases crossed the 13,000 mark after around 49 days, taking the total tally to 3,48,22,040, while the active cases increased to 82,402, according to the data updated at 8 am.

 The fast-spreading Omicron variant is "nothing more than a seasonal cold virus" and there is little we can do to stop this virus from infecting people, claims a US-based doctor.

Afshine Emrani, MD, who holds a Fellowship in the American College of Cardiology (FACC) from the US, said that people who are vaccinated have a much lower chance of dying or getting hospitalised. But there is little it can be done to stop this virus from infecting over 80 per cent of the population, he said.

"Masks, vaccine card mandates will make no difference," Emrani said in a tweet.

"Vaccinated people still get infected and pass the virus to others," he added.

He also mentioned that soon the US will have two million positive cases a day for weeks, after which the numbers will drop dramatically.

"The biggest threat in my opinion remains in over-reaction and over-reach by government agencies, causing panic, providing misinformation, leading to closures that hurt those most vulnerable among us," Emrani said.

Meanwhile, a team of experts in Singapore has warned that the Omicron variant is likely to soon replace the Delta strain globally, as countries after countries have reported a record surge in Covid cases.

The warning comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that the more transmissible Omicron together with the currently circulating Delta variants might lead to "a tsunami of cases," putting immense pressure on national health systems.

In India, the Omicron infection tally has climbed to 961, of which 320 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

A Covid-19 tracker, developed by the UK's University of Cambridge, has predicted that India may soon see an intense but short-lived virus wave "within days", even as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid is spreading like wildfire in the country.

Kerala on Thursday logged 2,423 new COVID-19 infections and 164 deaths, which took the caseload to 52,32,672 and the fatalities to 47,441 till date.
Of the 164 deaths, 15 were recorded over the last few days and 149 designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court.

With 2,879 more people recovering from the virus since Wednesday, the total recoveries reached 51,76,535 and the active cases dropped to 19,835, an official press release said.

As many as 58,459 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

Among the 14 districts, Ernakulam recorded the highest with 455 fresh cases, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (416) and Kozhikode (266).

Of the new cases, 26 were health workers, 27 from outside the State and 2,262 infected through contact, with the source of it not being clear in 108.
There are currently 1,10,680 people under surveillance in various districts, of whom 1,07,074 are in home or institutional quarantine and 3,606 in hospitals, the release said. 

Bharat Biotech says its Covaxin has proven to be safe, well-tolerated, and immunogenic in 2-18 years old volunteers in phase II/III study

Gujarat Govt extends COVID restrictions from Dec 31 to Jan 7, says State Health Minister Rushikesh Patel

• On average, India reported more than 8,000 cases per day last week. Overall case positivity rate stands at 0.92%. From Dec 26 onwards, the country has been reporting 10,000 daily cases: Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry
• The weekly positivity rate of more than 10% is being noted in 8 districts including 6 districts from Mizoram, one from Arunachal Pradesh, Kolkata in West Bengal. The weekly case positivity rate is between 5-10% in 14 districts.
• There are 961 cases of #Omicron variant of coronavirus in India, out of which 320 patients have recovered.
• Evidence shows Omicron variant has growth advantage over Delta with doubling time of 2-3 days: Health Ministry quoting WHO
• Approximately 90% of the adult population in India has been vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose.
• Govt will send SMS to the eligible elderly population to remind them for taking the precautionary dose that starts from January 10

Reportedly, 70% Omicron patients are asymptomatic, & with the variant's high transmissibility, it's going to spread like fire once it gets into the community because you won't know if the next person is infected: Dr Naresh Gupta, Dir-Prof, Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi

Maharashtra: Mumbai's 'Bandra Reclamation- Bandra Wonderland' closed for visitors from today till January 2, due to rising COVID-19 cases in the city.

A total of 70 Omicron patients have been admitted to LNJP till December 30, out of which 50 patients have been discharged. Most of the patients are asymptomatic; only 4 out of the 70 patients had a mild fever, throat infection, weakness, loose motion: Dr Suresh Kumar, LNJP-MD, Delhi.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to chair a meeting of the COVID19 Task Force today. The meeting will be held in virtual format.

India reports 13,154 new COVID19 cases in the last 24 hours; Omicron case tally rises to 961 with 263 cases in Delhi and 252 in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra: Section 144 imposed in Mumbai starting from today till January 7, 2022, in view of rising Covid cases. Police prohibit New Year's celebrations, parties in any closed or open space incl restaurants, hotels, bars, pubs, resorts and clubs from December 30 till January 7.

Cases involving the coronavirus Omicron variant will likely peak by the end of January, presidential medical adviser Anthony Fauci said. "I would imagine, given the size of our country and the diversity of vaccination versus no vaccination, that it likely will be more than a couple of weeks, probably by the end of January, I would think," Fauci told CNBC said on Wednesday in response to a question about when the coronavirus cases will peak in the United States. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided data showing that the Omicron variant accounted for 58.6% of all new infections in the United States in the week ending on December 25. The Omicron variant, which was first detected in South Africa in November, is said by public health officials to be more transmissible but produces milder cases.

Multiple factors account for vaccine effectiveness. One is the vaccine itself, 2nd is biological factors like age- the older you are, the more vulnerable you are to the disease and 3rd factor is waning of immunity. Omicron infection numbers are high- occurring in both vaccinated and unvaccinated. But it appears that vaccines proving to be protective. The need for critical care doesn't seem to be going up. It's a good sign: WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan