Omicron variant Updates: Kerala reports record high Covid cases, 45,136 logged

 Eleven coronavirus-related deaths were reported in Haryana on Saturday, while 8,753 fresh cases pushed the state's infection count to 9,01,303, according to a Health Department bulletin. So far, 10,165 people have died from the infection in the state. The worst-hit Gurugram district reported 2,595 fresh cases. Faridabad (1,030), Karnal (340), Panchkula (546), Sonipat (604), Ambala (492), Hisar (398) and Kurukshetra (308) were among other districts affected by the surge in cases. While three fatalities were reported from Yamunanagar district, two deaths each were from Gurugram, Faridabad and Kurukshetra while Hisar and Ambala reported a fatality each, according to the bulletin. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 57,932.

Telangana on Saturday reported 4,393 new COVID-19 cases and pushed the tally to 7,31,212 till date. In the meantime, two deaths took the toll to 4,071. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) saw 1,643 cases followed by the districts of Medchal Malkajgiri (421) and Ranga Reddy (286), said the bulletin that gave details as of 5.30 PM. A total of 2,319 people recovered from the infection today. The cumulative number of recoveries till date was 6,95,942. The active cases were 31,199, the bulletin said. It said 1,16,224 samples were tested today and the total number tested till date was 3,12,85,422. The samples tested per million population was 8,40,554.  The case fatality rate was 0.56 per cent and the recovery rate 95.18 per cent. 

Senior Congress leader and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said he has tested positive for COVID-19.
He said he has isolated himself at home. "After experiencing some Covid-like symptoms, I got myself tested and am Covid positive. On the advice of doctors, I have isolated myself at home. I would request everyone who came in contact with me over the last few days to take appropriate precautions and get themselves tested," Hooda, who is the Leader of Opposition in Haryana, tweeted. Notably, three weeks ago, Hooda's son and Congress leader Deepender Singh had also tested positive for COVID-19. The two had also tested positive for the viral disease last year. 

Former Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, who tested positive for COVID-19 a few days ago, developed fever on Saturday and remained under observation in the hospital. The 94-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch was admitted to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday. Dr Bishav Mohan, who is attending on Badal, said, "He has developed fever today and continues to remain under observation in the hospital". He, however, said his condition is satisfactory. On January 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to the veteran Akali leader to enquire about his health. 

Gujarat recorded 23,150 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, its second highest single-day surge since the outbreak of the pandemic, increasing the tally of confirmed cases to 10,45,938, a state health department official said.
The addition to the tally was higher than the 21,225 recorded a day earlier but lower than the record 24,485 witnessed on Thursday, he pointed out.
For the fourth consecutive day, Gujarat reported over a dozen COVID-19 fatalities, he said.

The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 8,82,906 on Saturday after the detection of 11,274 new cases, while the death toll increased by five to touch 10,562, an official said. The positivity rate stood at 13.4 per cent as against 12 per cent on Friday, when the state had recorded 9,603 coronavirus infections, he said. The recovery count was 8,10,956 as 4,966 people were discharged from hospitals during the day, leaving the state with an active tally of 61,388, the official said. Indore and Bhopal, the two worst coronavirus-hit cities of Madhya Pradesh, registered 3,169 and 2,107 cases, respectively, during the past 24 hours, he said. With 83,694 samples examined during the day, the number of tests in MP went up to 2,52,30,640, the official added.

Sikkim on Saturday registered 344 new COVID-19 cases, 21 more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 36,765, a health department bulletin said.
Two fresh fatalities due to the disease in the last 24 hours raised the death toll to 421, it said.
East Sikkim logged 200 new coronavirus infections, followed by 69 in South Sikkim, 60 in West Sikkim and 15 in North Sikkim.
The daily positivity rate stood at 28.1 per cent, up from 26.4 per cent on Friday.
The Himalayan state now has 2,473 active cases, while 541 patients have migrated to other parts of the country and 33,330 people recuperated from the disease so far, the bulletin said.
The recovery ratio among coronavirus patients remained at 92 per cent.
Over three lakh sample tests have been conducted for COVID-19 so far, including 1,226 in the last 24 hours, it added. 

Himachal Pradesh's coronavirus caseload increased to 2,59,566 on Saturday as 2,216 more people tested positive for the infection, while the death toll climbed to 3,914 with six more fatalities, a health official said. Solan reported the highest number of fresh cases at 359, followed by 338 in Kangra, 290 in Sirmaur, 240 in Bilaspur, 231 in Mandi, 228 in Shimla, 181 in Una, 172 in Hamirpur, 97 in Kullu, 46 in Chamba, 24 in Kinnaur and 10 in Lahaul-Spiti, he said.

Of the latest deaths, two each were reported from Kangra and Shimla and one each from Una and Mandi. These included six men aged between 40 and 92, the official said. There are 17,295 active coronavirus cases in Himachal Pradesh, he said. As many as 1,986 more patients recovered from the infection. With this, the total number of recoveries in Himachal Pradesh stands at 2,38,316, he said. 

Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday recorded 6,568 fresh COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day spike in infections so far, taking the virus tally to 3,90,949, while seven related deaths in the past 24 hours raised the toll to 4,598, officials said. The Jammu division accounted for 1,875 of the new cases in the Union Territory, while the Kashmir division logged the remaining 4,693 fresh infections, they said. The Srinagar district recorded a maximum of 1,604 fresh coronavirus cases, followed by 1,236 infections in Jammu district. There are 39,113 active cases in the Union Territory, while the count of recoveries stand at 3,47,238, the officials said. 

Kerala continued to record steep rise in COVID-19 cases with 45,136 new positive cases being reported on Saturday, taking the tally to 55,74,702.
Kerala had on Friday logged 41,668 fresh coronavirus cases, a day after registering 46,387 cases on Thursday, the highest single day spike since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. The health department said the state had tested 1,00735 samples in the last 24 hours and there are 2,47,227 active COVID-19 cases in Kerala. Meanwhile, 21,324 persons recuperated from the disease on Saturday, taking the total cured to 52,97,971.

Meghalaya on Saturday logged 406 new COVID-19 cases, 75 more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 88,141, a health department official said.
The death toll rose to 1,496 as one more patient succumbed to the infection, he said.
East Khasi Hills district reported the highest number of fresh cases at 304, followed by West Garo Hills at 56, Health Services Director Dr Aman War said, adding that the remaining infections were detected in eight other districts.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has tested positive for COVID-19, sources close to him said. "He has tested positive for COVID-19 but he is asymptomatic. However, he is admitted to Manipal Hospital," the sources told PTI. The JD(S) supremo chose to get admitted to hospital as a precaution, the sources added.

Labs giving real-time data to states, segregation of coronavirus patients on basis of districts and assembly constituencies are part of the SOPs laid down by the Delhi government. In an order issued last week, the Health Department stated that it has prepared SOPs for Covid-care centres which also listed out guidelines to be followed for telecalling patients.

Active cases increased to 73,143 but there was a slight dip in fresh infections as Andhra Pradesh recorded 12,926 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, taking the caseload to 21,66,194. The state had reported 13,212 fresh cases on Friday. According to the latest bulletin, there were 3,913 recoveries and six deaths during the period.

In view of the emerging COVID-19 situation, the Lakshadweep administration on Saturday decided to close madrasas up to Class 9 with immediate effect among other educational institutions and restrict the number of passengers in the ships to and fro the island to ensure social distancing norms.

All the passenger ships/HSC vessels under the Lakshadweep administration operating from islands to Kochi and for inter-island movement shall operate with 50 per cent passenger capacity to ensure proper social distancing until further orders, District Collector S Asker Ali said in an order.

A comparative study of all admitted COVID-19 patients in Max Healthcare hospitals suggests that during the ongoing third wave, occupancy of ICU beds and oxygen requirement is not higher compared to the prior two waves of the coronavirus infection. This comparative study from all admitted patients across Max Healthcare hospitals has been conducted to compare the rate of admission, ICU requirement, mortality among COVID-19 patients from the first wave and second wave vs the third wave.

Travellers from any country arriving in India, who test Covid positive, will not mandatorily be managed at an isolation facility from Saturday, but have to quarantine themselves at home according to protocols, authorities said. In its revised 'Guidelines for International Arrivals' released on Thursday, the government said foreign arrivals, who test positive, will still have to undergo home quarantine for seven days even after they test negative, and undertake RT-PCR test on the eighth day of arrival in India.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday extended the closure of schools in the state till January 30 in view of rising coronavirus cases in the state. The closure of schools has been extended till January 30 and online classes will continue, according to an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi.

Of hospitalised children who tested or were presumed positive for SARS-CoV-2, 44 per cent developed neurological symptoms, and these kids were more likely to require intensive care than their peers who didn't experience such symptoms, a new study suggests. The findings, published in the journal Pediatric Neurology, indicated that the most common neurologic symptoms were headache and altered mental status, known as an acute encephalopathy. "The SARS-CoV-2 virus can affect pediatric patients in different ways: It can cause acute disease, where symptomatic illness comes on soon after infection or children may develop an inflammatory condition called MIS-C weeks after clearing the virus," said lead author Ericka Fink from the University of Pittsburgh. "One of the consortium's big questions was whether neurological manifestations are similar or different in pediatric patients, depending on which of these two conditions they have," Fink added. To answer this question, the research team recruited 30 pediatric critical care centers around the world.

More than 1,000 people infected with coronavirus have been shifted to critical care across Pakistan as the COVID situation worsens owing to the Omicron strain, according to government estimates, reported Geo TV.In light of rising coronavirus cases, the NCOC on Friday announced to close all schools across the country with a high COVID-19 positivity ratio for one week."Education institutions, premises, sections, specific classes with high positivity to be closed for ONE week," the NCOC had said in a notification. 

Singapore on Saturday reported its first Omicron-related death, a 92-year-old unvaccinated woman who caught the virus from a family member, according to a media report. The woman, who had no known medical history, died on Jan 20, about 10 days after catching the virus from a family member, the Channel News Asia reported. "Upon investigation, doctors have concluded that the death was due to COVID-19 infection, by the Omicron variant," the report said, quoting a health ministry statement. The woman was unvaccinated and had no known medical history, the ministry said. Meanwhile, Singapore on Friday reported 3,155 new COVID-19 infections, comprising 2,794 local infections and 361 imported ones, taking the nationwide tally to 307,813 since the start of the pandemic. One more person succumbed to the infection, pushing the death toll to 846.

Brazil reported 166,539 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the third consecutive day on which the country registered more than 160,000 cases, the National Council of Health Secretaries said Friday.The new cases have brought the nationwide tally to 23,751,782, it said.Meanwhile, the country registered 358 deaths in the past day, taking the national death toll to 622,563, it said, adding the released figures did not include those from the state of Ceara.

Travellers from any country arriving in India, who test Covid positive, will not mandatorily be managed at an isolation facility from Saturday, but have to quarantine themselves at home according to protocols, authorities said. In its revised 'Guidelines for International Arrivals' released on Thursday, the government said foreign arrivals, who test positive, will still have to undergo home quarantine for seven days even after they test negative, and undertake RT-PCR test on the eighth day of arrival in India. The revised guidelines came into effect from Saturday. Earlier the norm was that travellers coming from any country, including those considered 'at-risk', would be managed at an isolation facility and treated according to the standard protocols, the government said.

The Centre in a letter to States and Union Territories has said that COVID-19 vaccination, including precaution doses, for individuals having lab test proven coronavirus infection will be deferred by three months after recovery.Union Health Ministry Additional Secretary Vikas Sheel in his letter on Friday stated that requests have been received from various quarters for guidance in regard to the administration of precaution dose to the eligible persons having COVID-19 illness."Please note that: -In case of individuals having lab test proven SARS-2 COVID-19 illness, all Covid vaccination including Precaution dose to be deferred by 3 months after recovery," it read.The letter further stated: "I request you to kindly direct the concerned officials to take note."The suggestion is based on scientific evidence and recommendation of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, he said.

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been hit by COVID-positive cases days before the scheduled start of the new season on January 27. According to a report, three players and five support staff have tested positive for the virus after the latest round of testing, with tournament director Salman Naseer quoted as saying by espncricinfo on Saturday that they have all gone into isolation. As per COVID-19 protocols, the cricketers will be able to join their respective teams' training sessions from January 24, at the end of their isolation periods, "if they produce two negative test results", the report said. The PSL organisers have so far conducted more than 250 tests since January 20 since the players and support staff of the six franchises started checking into their hotels, after returning negative results in the pre-arrival tests. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also reportedly conducting "pre-emptive testing" on hotel staff and PCB officials since January 14.

A new form of Omicron named BA.2 has been designated a "variant under investigation", with 426 cases of the Covid-19 strain's sub-lineage confirmed in Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. "Overall, the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, is dominant in the UK and the proportion of BA.2 cases is currently low," with the earliest dated December 6, 2021, Xinhua news agency quoted the UKHSA as saying in a statement on Friday. In total, 40 countries have uploaded 8,040 BA.2 sequences to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) since November 17, 2021 and at this point, it is not possible to determine where the sub-lineage may have originated, it added. The first sequences were submitted from the Philippines, and most samples have been uploaded from Denmark (6,411), while other countries that have uploaded more than 100 samples are India (530), Sweden (181), and Singapore (127), according to the UKHSA. Meera Chand, incident director at the agency, said new mutations are "expected" as the pandemic continues. "So far, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether BA.2 causes more severe illness than Omicron BA.1, but data is limited and UKHSA continues to investigate."

"He has tested positive for COVID-19 but he is asymptomatic. However, he is admitted to Manipal Hospital," the sources told news agency PTI. The JD(S) supremo chose to get admitted to hospital as a precaution, the sources added. The sources further said Gowda's wife Chennamma is negative for coronavirus and is at home. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has wished Gowda a speedy recovery. "I wish former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda a speedy recovery from coronavirus infection and to continue his work as usual," Bommai tweeted. Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar too prayed to God for the speedy recovery of Gowda. He further said he is in touch with the doctors treating the former Prime Minister and getting updates about his health.

COVID-19: Streets wear deserted look as Jammu and Kashmir administration imposed complete restrictions on non-essential movements during the weekend; earlier visuals from Srinagar. 

Belgium is introducing a new Covid-19 barometer to gauge the seriousness of the pandemic situation, which consists of three colour codes, yellow, orange and red, according to authorities. The barometer will come into effect on January 28 under code red, reports Xinhua news agency. "The hope is that we can go from a pandemic to an endemic. That should ensure that we would have much less unpredictability. But let me be clear: that is not yet the case today," Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at a press conference on Friday. The barometer's three-colour codes reflect the level of pressure on healthcare and will allow authorities to link Covid-19 measures to hospitalization numbers and ICU capacity. The yellow code means the epidemiological situation and pressure on hospitals are under control, new hospitalisations per day don't exceed 65, while code orange means new hospitalizations per day are between 65 and 149, and intensive care occupancy between 300 and 500 beds.

Odisha's COVID-19 tally rose to 11,96,140 on Saturday as 8,845 people, including 927 children, tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. The daily spike in cases is the lowest in the last 10 days, reducing by 18.5 per cent from 10,856 a week ago. The state had logged 9,833 cases and six deaths on Friday. The state's coronavirus death toll increased to 8,514 as seven more patients succumbed to the infection, it said.

The Fugees -- Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel -- have cancelled their much-awaited reunion tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of their 1996 blockbuster album 'The Score'. The trio, who were once described by Bono as the "hip-hop Beatles" and immortalised by the song 'Rumble in the Jungle', cited the ongoing Covid surge as the reason for the postponement. "We anticipate and understand disappointment, but our anniversary tour will not be able to happen," the group wrote on their Instagram account. "The continued Covid pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe." The post went on to state: "An idea sparked to honour and celebrate this 25th anniversary of 'The Score', but we see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work.

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president HD Devegowda tested positive for COVID-19. He has no symptoms and his health is stable: Office of HD Devegowda. 

Ladakh reported 179 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the overall caseload in the Union Territory to 24,213 and active cases to 1,101, officials said on Saturday. Leh district reported 112 positive cases while the rest 67 came from Kargil district, they said. According to the officials, no COVID deaths were reported in the previous day and the death toll remained unchanged at 222 with 164 fatalities in Leh and 58 in Kargil. Eight-five patients were discharged from hospitals in Leh and 40 in Kargil after undergoing successful treatment, taking the number of recovered cases in Ladakh to 22,890. Of the active cases, 898 are under treatment in Leh and 203 in Kargil, the officials said.

Jammu and Kashmir reported 5,720 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths on Friday. According to the health bulletin, there are 34,882 active cases in the Union Territory and 1,877 recovered cases. 82,903 COVID-19 samples were collected on Friday. Out of the 4,994 dedicated beds, 466 beds are occupied, taking the percentage of beds occupancy to 9.33 per cent. 39,460 vaccine doses of COVID-19 were administered in the last 24 hours.

More than 12.79 crore balance and unutilized COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with States and Union Territories, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Saturday. "More than 160.58 crore (1,60,58,13,745) vaccine doses have been provided to States, UTs so far through Government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category," stated the press release by the ministry.

India added 3,37,704 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,89,03,731, which includes 10,050 cases of the Omicron variant, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The active cases have increased to 21,13,365, the highest in 237 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,88,884 with 488 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. There has been a 3.69 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Friday, the ministry said. The active cases comprise 5.43 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.31 per cent, the ministry said. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 17.22 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 16.65 per cent. The data stated that 71.34 crore tests have been conducted so far and 19,60,954 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

In the last 24 hours, Brazil reported more than 160,000 new Covid-19 cases for a third consecutive day, the National Council of Health Secretaries said. The new infections has increased Brazil's overall caseload as of Saturday morning to 23,766,499, the third highest after the US and India. In the same time, the country registered 358 fatalities, taking the national death toll to 622,875, the second largest after the US. Brazil registered a mortality rate of 296.3 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants on Friday, while the incidence rate reached 11,302.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, Xinhua news agency quoted the Council as saying. The spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has led to an increase in cases and deaths in Brazil, although mass vaccination in the South American country had considerably reduced the figures in recent months. According to official data, 162.6 million people in Brazil, or 75.7 per cent of the country's population, have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and 148.1 million of them have been fully vaccinated.

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Bihar: Amid surge in COVID cases, postmen of the Gaya Head Post Office are delivering medical kits to COVID patients living in home isolation. "The medical kit has been provided to us by dist administration and we deliver them to patients," said BC Sharma, senior postmaster. 

Amid an ongoing resurgence across the world, the global coronavirus caseload has topped 345.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.58 million and vaccinations to over 9.76 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 345,813,395 and 5,583,886, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 9,764,354,039. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 70,209,352 and 864,553, according to the CSSE. The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (38,566,027 infections and 488,396 deaths), followed by Brazil (23,766,499 infections and 622,875 deaths). The other countries with over 5 million cases are France (16,116,748), the UK (15,814,535), Turkey (10,808,770), Russia (10,804,032), Italy (9,603,856), Spain (8,975,458), Germany (8,536,345), Argentina (7,694,506) Iran (6,241,843) and Colombia (5,686,065), the CSSE figures showed. The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Russia (318,200), Mexico (302,390), Peru (203,868), the UK (154,000), Indonesia (144,201), Italy (142,963), Iran (132,172), Colombia (131,824), France (129,338), Argentina (118,969), Germany (116,555), Ukraine (105,545) and Poland (103,626).

Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots. They are the first large U.S. studies to look at vaccine protection against omicron, health officials said. The papers echo previous research — including studies in Germany, South Africa and the U.K. — indicating available vaccines are less effective against omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that boosters doses rev up virus-fighting antibodies to increase the chance of avoiding symptomatic infection. The first study looked at hospitalizations and emergency room and urgent care center visits in 10 states, from August to this month.

Gujarat: The NGO running Ahmedabad's Sundarvan mini-zoo launches 'adopt an animal' initiative to overcome financial hardships posed by COVID. "Under this initiative, the adopter will bear monthly maintenance cost of the adopted animal and we are getting good response,"says an official.

Russia has registered 49,513 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, the highest daily increase to date, taking the nationwide tally to 10,987,774, the official monitoring and response center has said. The nationwide death toll increased by 692 to 324,752, while the number of recoveries increased by 24,719 to 9,975,052. Meanwhile, Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, reported a daily record of 15,987 new cases, taking its total to 2,140,914. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin did not discuss the possibility of imposing a lockdown in the capital city during their meeting on Thursday, according to a Friday statement from Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Peskov said that the experience gained during the previous Covid-19 waves has helped rule out the possibility of a lockdown for now, Xinhua news agency reported.

Canadian hospitalisation admissions are still rising, although the average number of daily Covid-19 cases fell 28 per cent compared to the previous week, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. "Over the past week, an average of over 10,000 people with Covid-19 were being treated in our hospitals each day, surpassing peak daily numbers for all previous waves of the pandemic," Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Theresa Tam said at a press conference in Ottawa on Friday. "This includes over 1,100 people in intensive care units, which is higher than all but the third wave peak." With test positivity at 22 per cent and the seven-day average of daily cases at nearly 27,000, Covid-19 is still widespread throughout the country with many hospitals under "intense strain", Tam added.

The spread of Covid-19 has prompted the Egyptian Health Ministry to tighten up health restrictions at airports, seaports and land crossings. Starting Saturday, "Egyptian and foreign travellers to Egypt, except children below the age of 12, will be required to present certificates of coronavirus vaccination or negative results of coronavirus tests," the Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. A traveller has to bring a certification of having received a single-dose or two-dose vaccine at least 14 days before arrival, or the result of a test taken within 72 hours prior to the arrival, the statement added. Egypt witnessed a recent surge in daily infections, with 1,403 new cases and 22 more deaths recorded nationwide by Thursday, pushing up the respective total to 405,393 and 22,260, Xinhua news agency reported.

Delhi is reporting a ten-time lesser number of hospitalisations in the Omicron-driven wave of COVID-19 as compared to the second wave, informed Dr Dhiren Gupta, Paediatric Pulmonologist at Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi on Friday.He added that the severity of the Variant of Concern Omicron is lighter as compared to the Delta variant. Speaking to news agency ANI, Dr Gupta said, "If you look at the past three weeks data and the present hospitalisation, definitely its number is almost, I would say 10 times less as compared to the second wave. Presently even during the peak, only 1/3rd of the Sir Gangaram hospital is full as compared to the last year. If you look at the national data, then it is telling you the same story." 

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 161.05 crore on Friday, the Union Health Ministry said. More than 58 lakh (58,37,209) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Friday. At least 74 lakh (74,27,700) precaution doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries have been administered so far, it said. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night, the ministry said. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2.