Omicron variant Live Updates: Arunachal Pradesh extends COVID-19 restrictions till Feb 14

 The COVID-19 tally in Nashik reached 4,66,769 on Monday with the addition of 1,490 cases, while six deaths took the toll to 8,812, an official said.
So far, 4,43,109 people have been discharged post recovery, including 2,185 during the day, leaving the district with an active tally of 14,848, he said. 

Delhi reported 38 fatalities and 2,779 cases in a day, while the positivity rate marginally declined to 6.20 percent, according to data shared by the city's health department on Monday. The number of cases could be low owing to the lesser number of tests (44,847) conducted the previous day since it was a Sunday. Delhi logged 3,674 cases with a positivity rate of 6.37 percent, while 30 more fatalities were reported on Sunday.

India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 166.59 Cr today. Over 53 lakh vaccine doses administered till 7 pm today. More than 1 Cr precaution doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries for COVID vaccination have been administered so far: Union Health Ministry

 Registering a further decline in fresh infections, Karnataka on Monday reported 24,172 new cases of COVID-19 and 56 fatalities, taking the tally to 38,09,467, and death toll to 38,998. The state on Sunday had reported 28,264 daily cases.

There were 30,869 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 35,26,108, a health bulletin said. Of the new cases, 10,692 were from Bengaluru Urban that saw 8,813 people being discharged and 12 virus-related deaths. The total number of active cases across the state is now at 2,44,331. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 17.11 per cent, the case fatality rate (CFR) was 0.23 per cent. Of the 56 deaths, 12 are from Bengaluru Urban, Belagavi and Dakshina Kannada (6), Ballari (5), Hassan (4), Kalaburagi (3), Chamarajanagara, Chikkaballapura, Mandya, Mysuru, Raichur, Shivamogga, Udupi and Uttara Kannada (2), followed by others.

After reporting more than 50,000 fresh COVID-19 cases daily for the last few days, Kerala on Monday logged 42,154 new infections which raised the caseload to 60,25,669.
The southern state had reported 51,570 cases a day ago.
Kerala on Monday also reported 729 deaths which raised the total fatalities in the state to 54,395, according to a government release.
Of the deaths, 10 were reported in the last 24 hours, 81 were those which occurred in the last few days but were not recorded due to late receipt of documents and 638 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, the release said.

With an aim to achieve 100 per cent vaccination against COVID-19 in the city, the Delhi government has launched war rooms in each district to ensure that all eligible residents are fully inoculated, officials said.
These war rooms comprise a dedicated workforce whose primary role is to remind people about their impending second dose by telephoning them and ensuring that they get jabbed.
According to officials, the workforce in each district calls up around 10,000-15,000 people every day.
A senior official of the west district administration said the war room in the district has yielded good results.
He said staffers in the war room check records and call up those beneficiaries that are yet to take the second dose and request them to get inoculated on priority.

The German government is set to miss a target of giving at least one shot of coronavirus vaccine to 80% of the population by the end of January.
With one day to go before the end of the month, official statistics on Monday showed that 75.8% of Germany's 83 million residents have received at least one shot, 74% are fully vaccinated and 52.8% have also received a booster.
The target "has been missed,” government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit acknowledged at a regular news conference. The vaccination rate is “significantly better than it was before, but it isn't 80%.”
Causes include unwillingness to get vaccinated and "perhaps also communication weaknesses,” Hebestreit said. He noted that the pace of vaccinations, which in December sometimes topped 1 million per day, slowed over Christmas and hasn't recovered as much as officials hoped. Over the past week, an average 351,000 shots per day were administered.

The Centre on Monday opposed in the Supreme Court the arguments that people are losing their jobs and rations allegedly due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandates issued by various states and authorities, saying nobody is “losing anything”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told this to a bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai that was hearing a matter in which issues including disclosure of data on clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine mandates have been raised.

Sikkim's COVID-19 caseload rose to 38,152 on Monday as 53 more people tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours, a health department bulletin said. The state had reported 127 new cases on Sunday. Sikkim's coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 429, as no fresh fatality was reported.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has announced relaxation in COVID restrictions. A night curfew will be in force between 11pm-5am instead of 10pm-5am. Restaurants, bars, and cinema halls will operate at 75% capacity. Parks and tourist places will reopen with COVID safety protocols.

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government through an interim order to not keep pending the applications made for ex-gratia claims by kin of COVID-19 victims, merely because those were not filed online. A bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta also directed the Maharashtra government, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Union government to file their replies to a PIL seeking directions to the state government to pay such ex-gratia amounts even to those who filed their applications physically or by post, and not through the state government's online portal.

Tokyo has launched a mass inoculation drive for COVID-19 booster shots at a temporary center operated by the military as Japan tries to speed up delayed third jabs to counter surging infections. Japan began administering booster shots to medical workers in December, but has only provided such inoculations to 2.7 per cent of the population after delaying a decision to cut the interval between the first two coronavirus shots and a booster to six months from the initial eight.

Ladakh has reported 133 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the virus tally to 25,869 while the active cases in the union territory have come down to 1,212, officials said. The union territory has recorded 224 Covid-related deaths -- 165 in Leh and 59 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, they said. There was no death reported from union territory on Sunday, they said. As many as 182 patients were cured and discharged from hospitals in Ladakh. Of these, 148 were discharged in Leh and 34 in Kargil, they said.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has extended COVID-19 restrictions in the state till February 14 with certain modifications – one of which is permission for vaccinated teenagers to attend physical classes in schools. According to the new order issued by Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, all workplaces, businesses and commercial establishments would be allowed to operate till 8 pm with 50 per cent attendance. Night curfew will be imposed after 9 pm and continue till 5 am, as was the case earlier. Visitors have been disallowed in government offices for now and meetings, if possible, will be conducted on virtual platforms. Additionally, all public servants will have to submit their vaccination certificates in their respective offices, the new order stated. Bars, restaurants, gyms, swimming pools, cinema halls, and auditorium would continue to operate at 50 per cent occupancy. Physical classes will be allowed for those students who have taken the first dose of the vaccine.

Kerala on Sunday recorded 51,570 fresh Covid cases, from 1,03,366 samples tested, and 14 more deaths, according to a statement from the sate Health Department. As many as 5,27,362 people are under observation in various areas of the state, of which 5,14,734 are under home quarantine while 12,628 people are admitted in hospitals. The statement also said that 47,776 people contracted the disease through contact, and the new cases also included 439 health workers.

After the country achieved the milestone of vaccinating 75 per cent of the country's adult population against COVID-19, MD of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) Dr Suresh Kumar on Sunday said that the country's COVID-19 vaccination programme is an example to the world and it has become a "Vishwa Guru" (world leader). "It is a matter of pride that 75 per cent of the adult population has been vaccinated, which is part of the major population. It is seen that if 60 per cent of the population is vaccinated, then there is a reduction in community transmission," said Dr Kumar.
"India's vaccination programme is an example to the world. It was a big challenge to vaccinate such a huge population, which India has shown to the world and created history. India has become a Vishwa Guru in vaccination program in the world," he said.

As Hyderabad-based drug maker Bharat Biotech has got regulatory approval to conduct Phase-3 clinical trials of its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose, senior epidemiologist in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, Dr Sanjay Rai, on Sunday said the vaccine could be a game-changer in the fight against the pandemic if it provides mucosal immunity. "If this vaccine gives mucosal immunity, then it would be a great achievement for the human race. There are 33 vaccines all over the world but none is effective in preventing the infection. We are hoping that this vaccine will provide mucosal immunity that can prevent further infection," Dr Rai told ANI. As the Budget Session starts from Monday, the AIIMS Senior epidemiologist expects that need of the hour is to strengthen the public health system at all primary, secondary level and tertiary levels. "This is not the last pandemic, we must prepare for future pandemics and to handle that, we need to strengthen the public health system," he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday announced a seven-hour relaxation in the restriction on non-essential movement amid concerns raised by traders over the 64-hour long weekend Covid lockdown hampering their businesses. The new lockdown restrictions on non-essential movement would be from every Friday 9 pm to Monday 6 am, said the State Executive Committee (SEC) which met under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary A K Mehta to review the overall Covid situation. This will come into effect from next weekend. 

Maharashtra reported 22,444 new coronavirus positive cases, which increased its caseload to 77,05,969, while 50 patients succumbed to the infection, taking the fatality count to 1,42,572, the health department said. Of the new patients, five were found infected with the Omicron variant of the virus.

 Uttar Pradesh reported 8,100 fresh COVID-19 cases and 26 more fatalities in a day while the tally of active infections in the state reached 55,574. The cumulative Covid cases reported in the state so far has risen to 20,13,323 while 23,189 people have succumbed to the viral disease till now. Of the fresh cases, Lucknow recorded the maximum of 1,385 infections, followed by Ghaziabad 418, Gautam Buddh Nagar 364, Lalitpur 272, Varanasi and Lakhimpur Kheri 259 each and Prayagraj 258. Three fatalities were reported from Lucknow, while two death were reported each from Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Sonbhadra and Kannauj. As many as 12,080 COVID-19 patients recovered from the viral infection, taking the total number of patients discharged so far in the state to 19,34 560, the statement said.

Delhi on Sunday logged 3,674 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 6.37 per cent, while 30 more people succumbed to the viral disease, according to data shared by the city health department. With this, the national capital's caseload increased to 18,27,489 and the death toll climbed to 25,827, the bulletin stated. A total of 57,686 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the city a day ago, it said.