Omicron variant Updates: Gujarat disallows over 150 in gatherings amid rising Covid cases

In a bid to control the spread of COVID-19 and its Omicron variant, the Uttarakhand government on Wednesday extended the night curfew by an hour.
It will now be applicable from 10 pm to 6 am, instead of 10 pm to 5 am as it was earlier. Moreover, hotels, dhabas, eateries will be allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari felt an infection in the throat today, after which he got his Covid test done in Nagpur in which he was found positive. Gadkari is in home isolation,and doesn't complain of fever or cold.

Uttarakhand Tuesday reported its highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases in over seven months as 2,127 more people tested positive for the virus, according to official data. The state had reported 2,146 cases on May 27. One Covid patient also died in the state on Tuesday. Dehradun district reported the maximum number of 991 cases, followed by Nainital (451), Haridwar (259), Udham Singh Nagar 189 and Pauri 48.

Maharashtra recorded 34,424 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, 954 more than the previous day, taking the overall tally to 69,87,938, while 22 patients succumbed to the infection in the state, up from eight a day ago, a health department official said.

He said Maharashtra also reported 34 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, raising their count to 1,281.
Of the 34 new cases of the highly contagious variant, 25 were reported from Pune city, six from Pune rural, two from Solapur and one from Panvel.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday reiterated that the Delhi government is fully prepared to deal with any kind of problem posed by the Covid-19 situation. However, it will not impose a lockdown.

"We are fully prepared. We have the ability to extend up to 37,000 beds if necessary. Our 37,000-bed capacity has yet to be utilised. If necessary, we may prepare 10000-11000 ICUs in Delhi by preparing 37,000 beds. However, there isn't much of a need for that right now," the CM said in a statement after reviewing the Covid preparedness at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases in Gujarat, the state government on Tuesday decided not to allow more than 150 people in gatherings during political, social, educational, cultural and religious events. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, while chairing a meeting on the Covid situation, decided that the current limit on allowing the people from gathering at a spot for any event needs to be changed.

Accordingly, it was decided that the maximum limit for any political, religious, cultural, social, educational or any other should be under 150.

Tamil Nadu recorded 15,379 fresh Covid cases and 20 deaths on Tuesday. With this, the active cases in the state stand at 62,767. Chennai reported 6,484 of the new cases. While Tamil Nadu has a Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of 10.3 per cent, the state capital's sate stood at 18.1 per cent.

Reporting another spike, Karnataka on Tuesday registered over 14,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 and five fatalities, taking the tally to 30,78,129 and the death toll to 38,379. The state that has been witnessing a steady surge in cases since the last week of December, today reported 14,473 daily cases, compared to 11,698 on Monday.

The Heathrow Airport in London has called for dropping Covid testing for those who are fully-vaccinated, while revealing that "at least" 600,000 passengers cancelled flights during the key holiday month of December, Sky News reported. The UK's largest airport said that "swiftly imposed" action during the month of December to tackle the Omicron variant in the run-up to the festive season prompted uncertainty among the travellers who faced additional bills for costly PCR tests.

Kerala on Tuesday saw a sharp rise in the fresh COVID-19 cases with the state reporting 9,066 new infections which raised the caseload to 52,91,280. Kerala also reported 296 deaths which took the total fatalities in the state over the 50,000 mark to 50,053, according to a government release. Of the deaths, 19 were recorded over the last few days and 277 designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court. With 2,064 more people recovering from the virus since Monday, the total recoveries reached 52,05,210.

Covid curfew, between 11 PM and 5 AM daily, will be in force from January 18 to 31 in Andhra Pradesh, a Government Order said here on Tuesday. Principal Secretary (Medical and Health) Anil Kumar Singhal issued the modified order, revising the night curfew date to January 18. On Monday, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the authorities to clamp Covid curfew in view of the spurt in fresh cases over the past one week.

The ICMR's National Task Force for COVID-19 has decided against including antiviral drug Molnupiravir in the Clinical Management Protocol for COVID-19 as of now, official sources said on Tuesday. The experts of the task force cited safety concerns and argued that Molnupiravir was not of much benefit in Covid treatment to arrive at the decision in a meeting held on Monday.

Devotees have been proscribed to take a bath on Makar Sakranti on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar and Rishikesh in view of the surge in Covid cases, a government order on Tuesday said. The entry of devotees to Har ki Pauri in Haridwar, Triveni ghat in Rishikesh, and other ‘ghats’ has been banned, Haridwar District Magistrate Vinay Shankar Pandey and Dehradun District Magistrate R Rajesh Kumar said in their orders.

Sikkim on Tuesday reported 198 new COVID-19 cases, 86 more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 33,029, a health department official said. Ten people - six from Kolkata and four from Delhi - tested positive for the disease after they arrived at Pakyong airport near here, he said.

First case of the Omicron variant of Covid 19 has been detected in the Baramulla district of Kashmir.  A pregnant lady of Danisayeeda village in Uri Tested positive for Omicron taking total cases to 4. Earlier 3 cases were reported from Jammu.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday inspected the Parliament House complex to take stock of the health safety measures and other preparations put in place in light of the recent spike in Covid-19 cases.

Birla visited the Covid-19 testing facility set up in Parliament House Annexe for the Members of Parliament, officers and staff of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats and reviewed the facilities and preparations there. He directed officials to immediately address any requirements of members and officials that were felt necessary.

Dr Sudhir Bhandari, Principal, SMS Medical College, Jaipur on Tuesday said, "There is a difference between Delta & Omicron wave. Delta wave was very aggressive, but in Omicron mostly patients are asymptotic &are getting cured within 4-5 days. I appeal to people to follow COVID appropriate behaviour".

Amid rise in the coronavirus cases, the Delhi government has taken action against 4,434 people on Monday for not wearing masks in public or work places, according to official data. The data stated that 4,434 people were challaned for violation of masks, 107 for not maintaining social distancing, 17 people for spitting in public places and two for consumption of liquor/pan/gutkha/tobacco etc., in public places in its 11 districts.

120 cops in Mumbai test Covid positive, including 1 death, in last 24 hour, informs Mumbai Police

Maharashtra-1,247

Rajasthan-645

Delhi-546

Karnataka-479

Kerala-350

Uttar Pradesh-275

Gujarat-236

Tamil Nadu-185

Haryana-123

Telangana-123 

Odisha-74

Andhra Pradesh-28

Bihar-27

Punjab-27

West Bengal-27

Goa-21

Madhya Pradesh-10

Assam-9

Uttarakhand-8

Meghalaya-5

Jammu and Kashmir-4

Andaman and Nicobar Islands-3

Chandigarh-3

Puducherry-2

Chhattisgarh-1

Himachal Pradesh-1 

Ladakh-1

Manipur-1

Total: 4,461

Discharged/Recovered: 1,711

(Ministry of Health Data)

Ladakh's coronavirus caseload surged to 22,686 on Tuesday with 125 fresh infections, while the death toll climbed to 222 as one more person succumbed to the virus, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 118 were from Leh district and seven from Kargil district, they said. The latest death was reported from Leh, the officials said. The number of active coronavirus cases in Ladakh increased to 397. Of these, 373 cases are in Leh district and 24 in Kargil district, they said.

All private offices in Delhi shall be closed, except those which are falling under the exempted category, work from home shall be followed. Also, all restaurants & bars shall be closed, takeaways allowed:DDMA

India reports 1,68,063 fresh cases, 69,959 recoveries  & 277 deaths in the last 24 hours. Active case tally reaches 8,21,446. Omicron cases tally jumps at 4,461. Of the total 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,711 people have recovered or migrated so far. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,247 cases followed by Rajasthan at 645, Delhi 546, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 350.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address a press conference on COVID at 12 noon today

Goa continued to report a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases with 1,592 people diagnosed with the infection on Monday, reflecting a positivity rate of more than 27 per cent, officials said. As per the health department, 1,592 new cases took the state's COVID-19 tally to 1,91,501, while the death toll increased to 3,533 after one more patient succumbed to the infection during the day. The positivity rate in the tourist state, where assembly polls will be held next month, rose from 24.

Rajasthan Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena on Monday said the state’s Medical and Health Department has made all preparations to deal with the third wave of corona infection. In a video conference chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Meena said 50,000 general, 28,000 oxygen and 6,000 ICU beds are available in various medical institutions of the state. These beds are in addition to 1,500 beds in the Nascent Intensive Care Unit and Paediatric Intensive Care Units of various health facilities, he added. He said there is an adequate buffer stock of 30 days of critical medicines mandated by the government of India.

A total of 10,698 precautionary or booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered on the first day of the drive at Mumbai on Monday. Out of the total 10,698 doses, 5,249 were administered to health workers, 1,823 to frontline workers and 3,626 to the citizens above 60 years with comorbidities.

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases, the Haryana government Monday banned large congregations such as rallies and protests, and extended existing restrictions including the closure of cinema halls and sports complexes to eight more districts, according to an official order. The order issued by the Haryana State Disaster Management Authority (HSDMA) said the restrictions will be applicable till 5 am on January 19.

"Large congregations like all kinds of public meetings, rallies, protests, dharnas etc shall be prohibited in the state," said the order.

The eight new districts where the restrictions will be applicable are Sirsa, Rewari, Jind, Fatehabad, Mahendergarh, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Hisar. Earlier, these restrictions were imposed in Karnal, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Rohtak Jhajjar, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat. Cinema halls, theaters and multiplexes shall remain closed, the earlier order issued on January 5 had stated.

Seven more people died of COVID-19 in Punjab on Monday, while 3,969 fresh cases took the infection tally to 6,25,347, a medical bulletin said. The number of active cases climbed to 19,379 from 16,343 on Sunday. The positivity rate also jumped to 19. 31 per cent from 13.77 per cent the previous day.

Two deaths each were reported from Bathinda and Ludhiana, while one death each from Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Patiala. The state-wise toll has reached to 16,683, as per the bulletin. Of the fresh cases on Monday, Ludhiana reported 806 infections, accounting for 20 per cent of the total cases.

 As many as 25 widows from the 'Mahila Ashray Sadan' in Vrindavan tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, officials said. Overall, the district reported 240 new infections, most of them detected in random testing, according to Dr Bhudeo Singh, in-charge of the Rapid Response Team. He said 25 widows from the ‘Mahila Ashray Sadan’ Vrindavan were also found infected, taking to 58 the tally of cases in the Ashram.