Omicron variant Updates: Maharashtra's tally of new variant reaches 133, tally now crosses 1,000

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 133 new infections of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the total of such cases in the state to 1,009, health officials said.

As many as 439 patients have been discharged after recovery in the state to date.

Of 133 new cases, reports of 130 infections were received from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, while three reports were received from labs in Gujarat, officials said.

Of new cases of the Omicron variant, 118 were reported from Pune city, eight from neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad, three from Pune rural, two from Vasai-Virar and one each from Ahmednagar and Mumbai.

Mumbai has reported the highest 566 Omicron cases in the state so far, followed by 201 in Pune city.

Mizoram on Saturday reported its highest single day spike in COVID-19 cases since October 20, 2021, with 852 fresh cases which took the state's caseload to 1,44,624, a health department official said. The spike was also 32 per cent more than Friday's 579 cases, he said.

Kerala's Omicron case tally reaches 328 with 23 fresh cases reported in the state today

Uttar Pradesh reports 6411 new COVID cases and 171 recoveries in the last 24 hours 

Active cases: 18,551 (18,184 in home isolation) 
Total recoveries: 16,88,395

Chandigarh reports 541 fresh COVID cases (positivity rate - 13.9%) today, taking active cases to 1,794

Over two lakh adolescents in the age group of 15-18 have been administered the first dose of vaccine against COVID-19 in the national capital, with the northeast district vaccinating the highest number of beneficiaries.

According to official data, there are 10.
14 lakh beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group in Delhi.

The inoculation exercise commenced on January 3 with 20,998 people getting jabbed.
Northeast Delhi had recorded the highest figures on the first day and the trend has continued in the subsequent days.

Of the over 33,000 beneficiaries vaccinated on the second day of the exercise, 6,237 were from northeast district alone.

Similarly, on January 5, 6,848 of the total 36,301 adolescents inoculated were from the northeast district.
 
As many as 55,979 people were vaccinated in the national capital on January 6, with northeast Delhi again taking the lead by vaccinating 8,199 beneficiaries.
Another 8,012 people in the district were jabbed on Friday.

Delhi Govt says devotees will be allowed to visit Gurudwaras tomorrow on the occasion of Prakash Purab of Guru Gobind Singh in relaxation to the weekend curfew norms

Kerala reported 5,944 new COVID-19 cases and 242 virus-related fatalities on Saturday taking the total affected people in the state to 52,70,179 and the death toll to 49,547

Twenty-three cases were registered in East Sikkim, followed by 13 in South Sikkim and nine in West Sikkim. The state's coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 409, as no fresh fatality was registered.

National capital New Delhi recorded 20,181 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday, along with 11,869 recoveries, and 7 deaths. The positivity rate of the city has climbed to 19.6%. Active cases in the national capital stood at 48,178, and the city recorded 16% more Covid cases than yesterday.

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Test positivity rate crosses 10% in Bengaluru with the city recording 7,113 cases today. Bengaluru continues to be the epicenter of COVID in Karnataka with 79% of the cases: Karnataka Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K

Today in 24 hours 185 police personnel from Pune Police have tested positive for COVID19, including 27officers and 158 police staff personnel tested positive

Fourteen fresh Omicron cases were detected in Odisha on Saturday, taking the state's tally to 75, a health official said.

Eight new Omicron patients have travel history, while four are local cases, and the travel history of two others are yet to be ascertained, he said.

Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, the only facility in the state where genome sequencing is conducted, has informed the Health Department about the development.

Five Omicron patients have recovered from the disease so far, while a 45-year-old patient has died in Bolangir district.

Odisha had first reported Omicron cases on December 21 last year. Director of Health Service Bijay Mohapatra said that the Omicron variant has been detected in all the districts of the state.

As many as 68 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) employees working out of its Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) office here have contracted coronavirus infection, an official of the central agency said on Saturday.

The CBI had asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to test 235 persons working at the BKC office, he said.

"From this lot of 235 personnel, which includes officials, 68 have tested positive. The infected ones have been asked to home quarantine," he added.

Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala says he has tested positive for COVID-19

More than 2 crore teens have been inoculated with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, since the beginning of vaccination drive for children aged between 15 to 18 years on January 3.

According to the CoWIN portal, as of now, a total of 2,17,42,837 teens have been vaccinated and the numbers are increasing every minute.

With more than 73,000 new Covid-19 registered in the last seven days, speculations are rife that West Bengal, which has already announced formation of micro-containment zones, might impose a full lockdown curb the unprecedented spike.

On Friday, the state recorded 18,213 new cases, close to the highest single-day spike registered on May 14, 2021 (20,836).

Experts are of the opinion that if the transmission chain is not broken immediately then the number of daily cases might break the record within a couple of days.

What is more alarming for the state is the astronomical rise of cases in the last 10 days. On January 4, the number of fresh was 9,073 which then doubled within a span of two days.

On January 1 the number was just 4,512 but in the next seven days, the cumulative figure touched 73,412 causing real concern for the state administration.

In an effort to curb the steep rise of the virus, the state government has already announced a series of measures bringing back the micro-containment zone mechanism to restrict people from high infectious zones to get into the mainstream areas.

So far, the local administration has announced 48 micro-containment zones. of which 28 are in Bidhannagar - the satellite township of Kolkata.

Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the state government is against a total lockdown because it hampers the life of the common people but recently, she indicated that the state government is mulling stricter restrictions.

Not only in Kolkata and its adjacent areas, but the local administration has imposed partial lockdown in several other areas.

The local administration of South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Jalpaiguri, Nadia and North 24 parganas have announced a total lockdown three days a week.

"Presently we have decided to continue with a total lockdown on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and will carefully observe the situation for the next seven days. If the number of fresh cases doesn't come down then we might think of a stricter imposition of the lockdown conditions. We are going for a mass campaign so that the people become aware of wearing the masks and maintain social distance. This is the only way to control the spread of the disease," a senior official of a district adjacent to Kolkata said.

According to senior officials of the state government, the administration is not waiving out the possibility of a total lockdown in the state.

"We have one advantage that there is no rush in the hospitals and we don't have any shortage of oxygen either. It indicates that the people are having mild symptoms and will be safe if the maintain the government regulations strictly and stay in home isolation," a senior state government official said.

"We are preparing for the worst. If there is a huge rush in the hospitals then the government might think of imposing a lockdown in the entire state. Presently the situation is under control and we are having a close watch on the development. If the situation becomes critical then we will have think in a different way. Lockdown is our last resort and we will not impose it unless it is inevitable."

With more than 73,000 new Covid-19 registered in the last seven days, speculations are rife that West Bengal, which has already announced formation of micro-containment zones, might impose a full lockdown curb the unprecedented spike. On Friday, the state recorded 18,213 new cases, close to the highest single-day spike registered on May 14, 2021 (20,836). Experts are of the opinion that if the transmission chain is not broken immediately then the number of daily cases might break the record within a couple of days. What is more alarming for the state is the astronomical rise of cases in the last 10 days. On January 4, the number of fresh was 9,073 which then doubled within a span of two days. On January 1 the number was just 4,512 but in the next seven days, the cumulative figure touched 73,412 causing real concern for the state administration.

Uttarakhand High Court has suspended physical hearings after a judge and four other employees of the court tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, officials said. Important matters will be heard virtually, according to a high court official. Apart from the five, four Nainital residents also tested positive for Covid on Friday. Although all the infected people are asymptomatic, they have been home quarantined and around 60 samples from the High Court sent for testing, he said.

West Bengal Fire Minister Sujit Bose has again tested positive for COVID-19, following which he has been placed under home isolation, a health official said on Saturday. Bose, who had contracted the disease in May last year, tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time on Friday night, he said. "The minister had exhibited COVID symptoms, following which he undertook the RT-PCR test, the result of which returned positive. His symptoms are mild, and he is in home isolation," the official said. His family members will be tested for COVID-19 on Saturday, he added.

Three family members of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi have tested positive for COVID-19, a senior health official said on Saturday. However, the chief minister has tested negative for the infection. Mohali civil surgeon Dr Adarshpal Kaur said Channi's wife Kamaljit Kaur, his son Navjit Singh and daughter-in-law Simrandheer Kaur have tested positive for coronavirus. They all have mild symptoms and are in home-isolation, she further said. 

The fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic fuelled by the Omicron variant has hit Hungary, a top official announced. Bela Merkely, rector of Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest and leader of the Clinical Epidemiology Working Group, said said that since the Omicron variant is highly contagious, tens of thousands of new cases can be expected in the country in the coming days and weeks, reports Xinhua news agency. "The Omicron variant typically causes only mild upper respiratory infections in vaccinated people -- runny nose, sore throat, headache and fever lasting for a day or two," he explained, warning that the hospitalization rate for unvaccinated people may increase. "The proportion of serious cases is likely to be lower than in the third and fourth waves," he said. Vaccination against coronavirus is the only way to significantly reduce the chances of being hospitalised, Merkely said, stressing that three vaccine doses offer high protection.

Jammu & Kashmir | COVID-19 testing continues at the Jammu Airport. "Travellers are allowed to leave the airport only if they are fully vaccinated, otherwise, everyone, including the Vaishno Devi yaatris, gets tested," says Sanjeev Kumar Garg, Jammu Airport Director.

2,500 beds are available at the BKC Jumbo COVID-19 Centre. So far, there are no ICU patients at the centre. Most patients are asymptomatic. Weekend lockdown will not be imposed for now: Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar.

Delhi will report around 20,000 fresh cases today, positivity rate to rise by 1-2%. Currently, only 10% of hospital beds are occupied in the city: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on COVID19 situation.

Salons, beauty parlours can operate with 50% seating capacity up to 10pm in the State. Customers & staff should be fully vaccinated: West Bengal government.

COVID-19 | A total of 3,071 Omicron cases were reported in 27 States/UTs of India so far. The number of persons recovered is 1,203: Union Health Ministry.

India reports 1,41,986 fresh COVID cases, 40,895 recoveries, and 285 deaths in the last 24 hours. 

READ MORE HERE: Coronavirus pandemic LIVE Updates: India logs 1,41,986 new cases, 285 fatalities in last 24 hours

"Fake" COVID restrictions notification circulating on social media is misleading the public in Sindh province which claims that all educational institutes will remain closed till January 31.Negating the widely shared notification, the Sindh government on Friday clarified that the notification is "fake" and no such directives have been issued, reported Geo News.In a statement, the spokesperson for the Sindh chief secretary said that the provincial government has not issued any order related to coronavirus measures."The notification circulating on social media is fake," he said, reported Geo News.Social media has been rife with fake news for the last several days since the coronavirus started to rise, with unscrupulous elements sharing fake notifications and statements claiming to be issued by the government.

Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced that public gatherings in the poll-bound coastal state has been limited to 100 people in outdoor venues and 50 per cent of the sitting capacity or maximum 100 in cases of indoor venues."Maximum 100 people will be allowed at the venue at any one point in time. However, people coming in and going out of the venue will not be counted to calculate the capacity limit," said Sawant.The restrictions have been imposed to prevent large gatherings in marketplaces, public meetings, political meetings, beaches, etc."The restrictions will continue till January 26 and will be reviewed depending on the pandemic situation in the state," added Sawant.

Singapore has reported 777 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, bringing the total tally of the disease in the country to 283,991. Of the new cases, 366 were in the community, 15 were in migrant worker dormitories and 396 were imported cases, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the statistics released by the Ministry of Health (MOH). There were 535 new Omicron cases confirmed on Monday, of whom 251 were local and 284 were imported, the ministry said. A total of 165 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with 13 cases being critically ill in the intensive care unit (ICU), the current overall ICU utilisation rate is 43.2 per cent. Two more patients have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection, bringing the death toll to 837.

We've received several reports of other COVID-19 vaccines being administered to children in the age group of 15-18 years. We request healthcare workers to be vigilant and ensure that only Covaxin is administered to them: Bharat Biotech. 

The fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the Omicron variant has hit Hungary, Bela Merkely, rector of Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest and leader of the Clinical Epidemiology Working Group, said on public television M1 on Friday.Merkely said that since the Omicron coronavirus variant is highly contagious, tens of thousands of new cases can be expected in the country in the coming days and weeks."The Omicron variant typically causes only mild upper respiratory infections in vaccinated people -- runny nose, sore throat, headache and fever lasting for a day or two," he explained, warning that the hospitalization rate for unvaccinated people may increase.

"I have tested positive for Covid. Request all those who came in contact with me in the last few days to isolate themselves & get tested. On the 5th, before the Bihar Cabinet meeting, I had tested negative but when I again got myself tested today, I tested positive," tweeted Shahnawaz Hussain. 

In view of rising cases of COVID-19, Gujarat High Court on Friday said that it will function in virtual mode till further orders.According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are 14,346 active COVID cases in the state presently.Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Friday announced a night curfew between 10 pm and 6 am in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Anand, and Nadiad.

Turkey has reported 63,214 new Covid-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 9,850,488, according to its health ministry. The death toll from the virus in Turkey on Friday rose by 157 to 83,388, while 29,197 more people recovered in the last 24 hours. A total of 406,796 tests were conducted over the past day, it said. Turkey has started mass Covid-19 vaccination on January 14, 2021. About 57.06 million people have received their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 51.84 million had got their second doses. Turkey has so far administered 135.61 million doses including the booster jabs.

In view of the rising COVID-19 cases, Uttarkhand govt imposes new restrictions-all political rallies and protests in the state will be prohibited till January 16. All schools and anganwadi centres will also remain closed till January 16.