Omicron Variant Updates: 'No vaccine, no entry' order issued in Ahmednagar

The Ahmednagar district administration on Friday issued a 'no vaccine, no entry' order covering various areas, including private establishments, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, auditoriums, marriage halls, agriculture markets as well as events.

The order, issued by Collector Rajendra Bhosale, will start from Saturday and it has been made mandatory for people visiting these places to have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and follow pandemic appropriate behaviour, an official said.

Meanwhile, a woman having a travel history to Nigeria tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Srirampur tehsil of the district, said Bhosale.

He also informed that 19 students from a residential school in Takali Dhokeshwar village in Parner tehsil have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last three to four days.

"There are over 400 students from Classes V to XII in the residential school. All 19 students who have tested positive are hospitalised. They are stable and there is nothing to worry about," he added.

As many as 19 students of a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district have tested positive for coronavirus, a senior official said on Friday.

The residential school, part of the Navodaya Vidyalaya network which comes under the Union education ministry, is located at Takali Dhokeshwar village in Parner tehsil of the district. The school has over 400 students across classes 5 to 12.

"Nineteen students tested positive over the last three to four days. All are isolated and hospitalized. Most of them have no symptoms and some have only mild illness," said district collector Rajendra Bhosale.

"We are conducting RT-PCR testing of remaining students as well as teachers, non-teaching staff and visitors," he said. 

Amid rising Covid cases in the state, Maharashtra imposes night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am starting today.

Maharashtra reports 1,410 new cases, 12 deaths and 868 discharges today; Active caseload stands at 8,426 20 new cases of Omicron reported in the state today, takes case tally to 108. Out of these, 54 cases have been discharged following a negative RT PCR test

Biden to lift omicron-related travel restrictions on southern African countries, effective Dec. 31, suggest sources.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday reviewed the pandemic situation in the state amid the threat of the omicron variant.
The need for strict health surveillance and response preparedness were discussed in detail at the meeting, officials said.

Khandu instructed the government departments, especially Health, to continue to be alert, attentive and responsive to all the challenges coming forth.
He urged the people to follow COVID guidelines during the Christmas and New Year festivities.

"I urge the people to steadfastly maintain COVID appropriate behaviour. Stay masked, avoid crowds, prefer open spaces, maintain hand and respiratory hygiene and get vaccinated," he said.

"Arunachal Pradesh is doing well so far. The number of active cases as on today is 18 with only two patients hospitalised. No COVID death has been recorded since October 8," he added.

Night curfew to be in force from 11pm to 5am daily in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Gandhinagar and Junagadh from 25th December, in view of current COVID19 situation: Gujarat Chief Minister's Office 

Mumbai reports 683 new Covid19 infections, 1 death today. Active cases at 3,227. Recovery rate at 97%

Delhi reports 180 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours. Positivity rate rises to 0.29%

In view of the current Covid situation, Odisha Government has restricted the Christmas & New Year celebrations w.e.f 25th Dec to 2nd Jan. Social gatherings, rallies, orchestras, celebrations in hotels, clubs, restaurants, parks, etc will be banned across the State

Tokyo authorities on Friday reported the Japanese capital's first case of the Omicron Covid-19 variant reported in the community with no known travel history.

A doctor at a clinic in Tokyo was confirmed to be infected with the new variant through an unknown route, according to the metropolitan government.

Three other cases with a history of overseas travel were also reported on the same day, reports Xinhua news agency.

The metropolitan government has classified five people as close contacts of the doctor, who has been hospitalised and the five close contacts have all tested negative for the virus.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters that the doctor had worn a face mask and face guard at work and has no close contact with patients.

Tokyo will conduct free Covid-19 tests from Saturday amid growing worries over the variant, Koike said, adding that the government is planning to conduct 30,000 tests per day for those wishing to be tested at 180 locations in the capital.

Kyoto, a western prefecture of Japan, also confirmed three infections of the variant through unknown routes on Friday.

On Wednesday, cases of community transmission of the variant in Japan were first reported in Osaka Prefecture.

• The world is witnessing the fourth surge & and the overall positivity is 6.1%. Therefore, we have to be on guard and we can't afford to slacken. 
• The top five states with the highest number of active cases, at the moment, are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka
• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare preemptively advised States on 21st December -to impose restrictions like night curfew, regulating large gatherings. increase bed capacity and other logistics and strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behavior
• Omicron has significant growth advantage over Delta, spreading fast through communities with doubling time of 1.5 to 3 days

Staff absences for COVID-19 tripled this month in London's hospitals, and nearly 10per cent of the city's firefighters called out sick.
In New York, about 2,700 police officers were absent earlier this week — twice the number who are ill on an average day. And on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, grocery worker Judy Snarsky says she's stretched to her limit, working 50 hours a week and doing extra tasks because her supermarket has around 100 workers when it should have closer to 150.

“We don't have enough hands. Everybody is working as much as they physically and mentally can,” the 59-year-old in Mashpee said. “Some of us have been going like a freight train.”

The worldwide surge in coronavirus cases driven by the new omicron variant is the latest blow to hospitals, police departments, supermarkets and other critical operations struggling to maintain a full contingent of front-line workers as the pandemic enters its third year.

Arvind Kejriwal tweets, "Delhi completes first dose to 100% eligible people - 148.33 lakh Salute to Doctors, ANMs, Teachers, ASHAs, CDVs and all other Frontline workers. Congratulations to DMs, CDMOs, DIOs and all district functionaries."

Two more cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported in Andhra Pradesh, taking the overall tally to four in the state.

Goa's COVID-19 task force will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss guidelines for Christmas and New Year celebrations. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant also appealed to the tourism industry to abide by all the coronavirus-related protocols, especially during the festive season. The tourism industry should ensure adherence to COVID-19 norms, like social distancing and sanitisation, to prevent the spread of the virus.

India recorded 122 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, the highest so far, pushing its tally in the country to 358, 114 of which have either recovered or migrated, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The 358 Omicron Covid variant cases have been detected across 17 states and union territories so far, it showed.

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to impose a night curfew between 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. across the state Thursday onwards amid a growing fear of a possible third Covid-19 wave following the detection of the new Omicron variant -- cases of which have been reported in some states including the neighbouring Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The Indian hospitality industry, battered by the pandemic, is on alert mode but not panicking yet in the face of the Omicron variant threatening to derail prospects of winter holiday season business, according to industry players. With states imposing restrictions on gatherings for Christmas and New Year celebrations, hoteliers and restaurant operators are, however, staring at possible booking cancellations even as they hope for some support from the government like what the UK government has done for the industry there.

Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) Consulting CEO Aashish Gupta said there is uncertainty within the industry about the impact of the Omicron variant with different inputs coming in from various places regarding its severity and speed of spread.

"The first scene is that everybody is on alert mode but, there is no panic mode because the information itself is not creating panic. The information is like a wait and watch," Gupta told PTI.

 Maharashtra on Thursday reported 23 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, highest in a single day so far, the state health department said. The day before, not a single case of the new variant had come to light. The tally of Omicron cases in the state rose to 88. Four of the new patients are below 18 years, the official release said.

The Assam government said no case of the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been detected in the state so far. Replying to a Zero Hour discussion initiated by BJP MLA Suman Haripriya in the assembly, Health and Family Welfare Minister Keshab Mahanta said the state government is preparing itself to deal with a possible outbreak of the variant.