Omicron variant LIVE Updates: Odisha Government announces reopening of educational institutions from Feb 7

Delhi on Friday saw 2,272 daily Covid cases, a considerable decline against 3,028 infections recorded on the previous day, while there were 20 more deaths, as per the Health Department bulletin.

The positivity rate has also reduced to 3.85 per cent, and active cases have declined to 11,716. With Covid recovery rate climbing at 97.95 per cent, the active case rate stands at 0.63 per cent while the death rate continues at 1.41 per cent.

With 4,166 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone to 18,03,251. A total of 8,170 Covid patients are being treated in home isolation at present.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday announced to resume the routine inpatients' admission including elective surgeries in general wards and the private wards. The decision has been taken due to decline Covid cases in the national capital.

"In view of the deceased needs of hospitalisations of Covid 19 positive patients and also considering the relaxation of curbs imposed earlier as announced by the Delhi government, it has been decided that routine inpatients admission including elective surgeries in general wards as well as in private wards of AIIMS hospitals and all centres be resumed with immediate effect," reads the statement by the hospital administration.

The letter further says that the services will be resumed with immediate effect on restricted basis as per availability of staffs, inpatients' beds and OT services.

The less severe Omicron variant, coupled with high immunity levels and the arrival of warmer spring weather, is soon likely to push Europe into a "long period of tranquillity" and a "ceasefire" to the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

According to Hans Kluge, WHO's Europe Director, the region was in a position of "higher protection" that could "bring us enduring peace", even if a new, more virulent variant than Omicron should emerge, the Guardian reported. However, the rise in cases did not amount to a similar rise in hospital admissions, and the number of patients in intensive care, he said. The number of deaths across the region was also starting to plateau.

Experts in Mizoram believe that spread of the Omicron variant is behind the rapidly rising number of cases of COVID-19 in the state even though this is to confirmed as yet by genome sequencing. State nodal officer of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and official spokesperson on COVID-19 Dr. Pachuau Lalmalsawma said that Omicron variant could be the reason for the high infection rate in Mizoram although genome sequencing to prove the Omicron variant has spread to these hilly border state is still awaited.

COVID19 positivity rate has decreased to 10%: State Health Minister Veena George

A team of Indian scientists in collaboration with an industry partner has developed a self-disinfecting 'Copper-based Nanoparticle-coated Anti-viral Face Mask' to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The biodegradable, highly breathable and washable mask exhibits high performance against the Covid-19 virus as well as several other viral and bacterial infections. Public mask-wearing is most effective in reducing the spread of the virus Covid-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2, an enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus, where the mode of transmission is via respiratory particles that are mainly airborne.

However, the Indian market is selling expensive masks that neither exhibit antiviral nor antibacterial properties, especially when people wear those and move about at densely populated places like hospitals, airports, stations, shopping malls and so on where the virus load is very high. "In the present scenario, where mutations in coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic are fast emerging, it is an urgent necessity to develop a low-cost antiviral mask. To this end, scientists have developed the self-disinfecting 'Copper-based Nanoparticle-coated Antiviral Face Masks' under the Department of Science & Technology (DST) sponsored Nano-Mission project," a release from the Ministry of Science & Technology said on Friday. This face mask was developed by scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, in collaboration with the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) and Resil Chemicals, a Bengaluru based company.

ARCI developed copper-based nanoparticles of around 20 nanometres by a Flame Spray Pyrolysis (FSP) processing facility. FSP process involves conversion of solution precursors into nano-powders by high temperature pyrolytic decomposition. Stable nanoparticle suspension was obtained by optimizing the solid loading and pH. A uniform layer of this nano-coating on the cotton fabric with good adhesion was achieved using a suitable binder. The coated fabric exhibited an efficacy of more than 99.9 per cent against bacteria. CSIR-CCMB tested the efficacy of this fabric against SARS-CoV-2 for their disinfection properties and reported 99.9 per cent disinfection, as evident from the standard results.

Karnataka Minister for Health K. Sudhakar on Friday said that the seating restrictions imposed in theatres across the state due to the Covid third wave will be lifted from February 5. Gyms, swimming pools and Yoga centres have also been allowed to function with full capacity, he added. While interacting with reporters, Minister Sudhakar stated that the restrictions are lifted with a condition to follow Covid guidelines. Wearing of masks is being made compulsory in theatres and carrying outside food into theatres is not allowed. Vaccination of two doses is made compulsory for all these places, he added.

Certain steps were taken in the last of December due to rise in number of Omicron cases. "We have started to relax the rules after analysing admissions to hospitals. The matter has been discussed with the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the meeting held today," he said. During the month of Jan, 5 to 6 per cent of infected persons were admitted to the hospitals. In February, the admissions have come down to 2 per cent. Against this backdrop, the permission is given for 100 per cent occupancy, he said. The final decision has been taken with a view that no industry or an individual should suffer losses. The film chamber of commerce have assured of taking all necessary precautions. The cine lovers should put on their masks, he stated.

There is prohibition to carry food inside the theatres. The officers can conduct surprise checks at any point of time. However, the rules regarding marriage, functions will continue as the same and a decision would be taken in the coming days.

 Tripura recorded 62 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, six less than the previous day, pushing the tally to 1,00,584, an official said.
One more patient succumbed to COVID-19 on Friday, taking the state's death toll to 912, he said.
The state now has 1,726 active COVID-19 cases while 97,878 people have recovered from the disease, the official said.

As Covid-19 cases were declining in the national capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to reopen schools and colleges from February 7, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Friday. For now, the classes will be conducted in hybrid mode i.e. both offline and online, Sisodia, who is also Delhi's Education Minister said.

"After a while, the classes will only be taken offline." The schools in Delhi were first shut in March 2020 during the onset of the first wave of the pandemic. They were opened briefly after 19 months for all classes with 50 per cent student strength, with classes continuing in the hybrid mode. However on December 3, 2021, the Delhi government again announced the closure of all schools in the national capital till further orders because of an increase in the air pollution levels.

India crossed the grim milestone of 5 lakh COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, becoming the third country in the world to do so after the US and Brazil. The country took 217 days to reach 5 lakh deaths from 4 lakh recorded on July 1 last year, the longest time taken to record 1 lakh fatalities. India was hit by a devastating second wave in April-May last year. The country's death toll had crossed three lakh-mark on May 23 and two lakh-mark on April 27. The death toll went past one lakh on October 2, 2020. The total deaths has climbed to 5,00,055 with 1,072 daily fatalities, Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 am stated.

Odisha recorded 23 more COVID-19 deaths on Friday, while the infections were the lowest in a month as 2,697 people tested positive, the Health Department said. The daily positivity rate dropped to 4.4 per cent as 60,762 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, a bulletin stated. The deaths are the highest since September 1 and the infections plunged by 46 per cent from 5,057 a week ago. The state had logged 3,629 COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths on Thursday. Seven fatalities were reported in Khurda district, followed by three in Sundargarh, and two each in Bhadrak, Ganjam, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, it said. Khurda district, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, reported the highest number of cases with 513 infections, while 435 children were among those newly infected in the state.

At the onset of the Beijing Winter Olympics that will start today, China on Thursday reported 29 new coronavirus cases. It reported 12 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 infections and 17 new imported COVID-19 cases, reported Xinhua.Of the new local cases, five were reported in Guangdong, four in Tianjin, two in Zhejiang, and one in Beijing, according to the National Health Commission on Friday.There have been no new COVID-19 deaths and the death toll has remained unchanged at 4,636.

DDMA meeting decides to reopen schools, colleges, coaching institutes, and gyms in Delhi. Duration of night curfew reduced by one hour (between 11 pm & 5 am): Sources.

Vitamin D levels prior to Covid infection, may increase severity of the disease as well risk of mortality, finds a study. Vitamin D is most often recognised for its role in bone health, but low levels of the supplement have been associated with a range of autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. Early on in the pandemic health officials began to encourage people to take Vitamin D, as it plays a role in promoting immune response and could protect against Covid-19. The study led by researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Safed, Israel, found that patients with vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/mL) were 14 times more likely to have severe or critical case of Covid than those with more than 40 ng/mL. Strikingly, mortality among patients with sufficient vitamin D levels was 2.3 per cent, in contrast to 25.6 perA cent in the vitamin D deficient group.

Last month's huge wave of omicron infections is thought to have weakened hiring in January, though the pullback is considered all but sure to prove a temporary one. Economists have forecast that the Labour Department will report Friday that employers added just 170,000 jobs last month, according to data provider FactSet. They expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 3.9%. If the forecast is accurate, January would mark the lowest monthly job gain in about a year. Some economists fear that the government's report will show that the economy actually lost jobs last month, mostly because omicron infections forced so many workers to call in sick and stay home. In some cases, the government will count those absent workers as having lost jobs. The COVID-19 surge also likely caused many workers to suspend their job searches, exacerbating a labour shortage that has kept many people on the sidelines of the workforce and led employers to raise pay to try to draw them back in. And with so many employees out sick, some companies likely suspended their hiring, even as employers overall have millions of jobs they want to fill.

Thane district in Maharashtra has reported 620 new coronavirus positive cases, which took its infection count to 7,04,629, while the death of two patients pushed the toll to 11,807, an official said on Friday. These cases and fatalities were reported on Thursday, he said. Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate is 1.67 per cent. In neighbouring Palghar district, the caseload has gone up to 1,62,532 and the death toll to 3,382, another official said.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday a military response to the ongoing Ottawa protest against COVID-19 measures is “not in the cards right now.'' Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly said this week that all options are on the table, including calling in the military, to end the ongoing demonstration that was being called an “occupation” by some on the city council. Thousands of protesters railing against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions descended on the capital last weekend, deliberately blocking traffic around Parliament Hill. Police estimate about 250 remain. Trudeau said one must be “very, very cautious” about deploying troops on Canadian soil, adding there has been no such request to the federal government. He said any formal requests for assistance from the City of Ottawa or Ontario will be considered. Organizers, including one who has espoused white supremacist views, had raised millions for the cross-country “freedom truck convoy” against vaccine mandates and other restrictions.

Long before the global pandemic upended sports and the world in general, the 2022 Winter Olympics faced unsettling problems. It started with the fact that hardly anybody wanted to host them. Beijing ended up solving that problem, but only after four European cities thought about it and dropped out, mostly because of expense and lack of public support. In the end, it was a race between two authoritarian countries. The IOC narrowly chose China's capital and its mostly bone-dry surrounding mountains over a bid from Kazakhstan. “It really is a safe choice,” IOC President Thomas Bach said after the balloting. Some seven years after that fateful vote, the world will find out if Bach was right. Starting with Friday's opening ceremony at the lattice-ribboned Bird's Nest Stadium, the spotlight will be trained on China, a country with human-rights record that troubles many, an authoritarian government and a “zero-tolerance” policy when it comes to COVID. It will be trained on what figures to be the most closed-off, tightly controlled, hard-to-navigate Olympics in history.

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 387.5 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.71 million and vaccinations to over 10 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 387,549,471 and 5,710,191, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,009,952,737. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 75,954,167 and 896,496, according to the CSSE. The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (41,803,318 infections and 498,983 deaths), followed by Brazil (25,820,745 infections and 629,301 deaths). The other countries with over 5 million cases are France (20,274,710), the UK (17,631,392), Russia (11,936,064), Turkey (11,833,165), Italy (11,235,745), Germany (10,303,972), Spain (10,125,348), Argentina (8,472,848), Iran (6,446,404) and Colombia (5,916,825), the CSSE figures showed. The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Russia (325,986), Mexico (306,920), Peru (205,985), the UK (157,938), Italy (147,320), Indonesia (144,320), Colombia (134,781), France (132,847), Iran (132,563), Argentina (121,834), Germany (118,219), Ukraine (107,303) and Poland (105,753).

South Korea's daily virus cases on Friday hit another all-time high with infections exceeding 27,000 for the first time amid the fast spread of the Omicron variant after a major holiday. The country reported 27,443 new Covid-19 infections, including 27,283 local cases, raising the total to 934,656, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The previous daily record was 22,907 reported Thursday. South Korea's new infections have surged sharply in recent days, breaking the 20,000 mark for the first time Wednesday just a week after it topped 10,000 daily cases on Jan. 26. New daily cases have more than tripled in the past two weeks. The death toll from Covid-19 came to 6,836, up 24 from Thursday. The fatality rate was 0.73 percent. The number of critically ill Covid-19 patients was 257, down 17 from a day earlier. At-home care patients rose 7,721 from the previous day to a total of 104,857, nearing the country's maximum care capacity of 106,000 for those treated at home.

Turkey has reported 107,530 new Covid-19 cases, raising the tally of infections in the country to 11,940,695. The death toll from the virus in Turkey on Thursday rose by 233 to 88,064, while 88,014 more people recovered in the last 24 hours, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Turkish Health Ministry. A total of 455,463 tests were conducted over the past day, it said. Turkey started mass Covid-19 vaccination on Jan. 14, 2021. It has so far administered over 142.52 million doses including the third booster jabs. More than 57.46 million people have received their first doses of the vaccine, while over 52.46 million have taken their second doses.

Italy has recorded 112,691 new infections on Thursday, a decrease of some 6,300 compared to the previous day and a reduction of more than 20,000 compared to two days earlier. After plateauing for weeks, weekly totals for Italy's Covid-19 infections dropped over the last seven-day period, Xinhua news agency reported, citing data from health monitoring entity GIMBE Foundation. The foundation, which bases its calculations on data supplied by Italy's Ministry of Health, reported that after several weeks of increases, the weekly totals of new infections had held steady at 1.2 million for three weeks in January, but the latest figures totalled over 900,000 for January 26-February 1, recording a decrease of 24.9 per cent. The total number of currently positive cases also fell, though by only 7.9 per cent, the foundation reported. In an encouraging sign, the number of new cases fell in nearly all regions, ranging from a decline of 7 per cent in the central Italian region of Molise to a 46.9-per cent fall in the neighbouring region of Apulia. The foundation also noted that the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units is decreasing: the total was 1,717 for the week ending January 17 and 1,549 for the week ending February 1.

The Odisha Government has announced the re-opening of schools and colleges in the state from February 7."After reviewing the current COVID-19 situation and loss of learning faced by students, the State government has decided to re-open schools and colleges," said Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, Chief Secretary on Thursday. The physical classes for students of standard 8 to 12 along with colleges, universities and other technical, professional education institutions will open from February 7," said Mahapatra."However, physical classes for the students from KG to class 7 will start from February 14," he added. The state government has also allowed the institutions to open their Hostels with COVID protocols issued by the government.Mohapatra further stated in the ongoing academic session students will have option to choose between physical classes, online classes and hybrid mode of education. "The Board Examination of Class 10 and 12 will be conducted as per the guidelines of the respective Board and Council," he added. "Hospitalisation in this third wave due to Omicron variant is less in comparison to the second wave, the daily positivity rate has also come down and the situation is coming under control. We have vaccinated a large number of children in the age group of 15 to 18 years," said the Chief Secretary.

The subvariant of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus dubbed BA.2 requires further study to understand to what extent it is distinct from its original - the Omicron - regarding contagiousness and other factors, Marco Cavaleri, the head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said on Thursday. According to the official, the Omicron keeps actively spreading across Europe and worldwide, with the BA.2 also present in many countries. "It is too early to say to what extent this variant differs from Omicron in terms of transmissibility and immune invasion, noting however that it remains a closely related strain to Omicron," Cavaleri said.BA.2, one of three substrains of the Omicron variant, was declared dominant in Denmark earlier this week. The subtype was first detected in the Philippines, according to GISAID, an international database that tracks changes in the virus.It is speculated that BA.2 will predominate in terms of cases in other countries where it has been detected, outpacing the previously leading BA.1 substrain.