A health worker arranges beds at Omandurar Super Speciality hospital as part of preparations for the expected third wave of COVID-19, in Chennai, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)
Coronavirus Omicron India Highlights: Even as the daily Covid-19 cases continue to surge rapidly, the Centre on Monday said only five to 10 per cent of the active Covid cases this time needed hospitalisation so far. However, the situation is dynamic and may change rapidly, it added. During the second wave, the percentage of active cases requiring hospital care was in the range of 20-23 per cent, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and Union territories.
Coronavirus Omicron India Highlights: Maharashtra logs 238 new Omicron cases, state tally at 1,605The country on Monday began administering the third ‘precautionary dose’ to priority groups — health care and frontline workers and those aged over 60 years with comorbidities. According to the Centre’s directions, the third dose will be of the same vaccine as the first two jabs and will be given to those who were vaccinated nine months ago.
In other news, Kerala has reduced the number of attendees at weddings and funerals to a maximum of 50 people, after a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. It was also decided that reunions, ceremonies, and general social, political, cultural and community events should be conducted online, except in urgent situations, a government release said.
Meanwhile, India on Monday recorded 1,79,723 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the active caseload to 7,23,619. The daily positivity rate stood at 13.29 per cent, while 146 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.
The Omicron tally, meanwhile, stood at 4,033, with Maharashtra (1,216) continuing to top the count.
A young beneficiary gets Covid-19 vaccine at a municipal medical facility in Nerul, Navi Mumbai on Saturday evening. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
#TN extends lockdown till Jan 31. Places of worship to remain closed from Jan 14 -18. The state will observe a complete lockdown on Jan 16. Busses will be permitted to run with 75% seating capacity to benefit those travelling to other cities for #Pongal.
Covid-19 cases more than double in a single day to 2,198 in Assam on Monday, highest tally in six months
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took to Twitter and said, "India began administering Precaution Doses. Kudos to those who have got vaccinated today. I would request all those who are eligible to get vaccinated. As we all know, vaccination remains among the most effective means to fight Covid-19".
Mumbai on Monday reported 13,648 new Covid-19 cases and five related fatalities, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a health bulletin. With 59,242 samples tested, the test positivity rate was recorded at 23 per cent. The new cases are 5,826 less than previous day and the positivity rate has come down by 5 per cent from 28 per cent to 23 per cent.
The city also logged 27214 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,05,333. There are 1,03,862 active Covid cases in Mumbai. This is the third day in a row that the COVID-19 cases in Mumbai have dipped. However, Dr Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary, said that with the TPR still high, it is too early to stay that cases are plateauing, and data of at least seven days is needed to confirm it.
Maharashtra has recorded 33,470 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.
BJP chief JP Nadda tests Covid-19 positive
More than 9 lakh precaution doses were administered to the eligible age group on the first day. Overall 82 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm today, taking India's total vaccination coverage to 152.78 crores: Union Health Ministry
Delhi sees 17 more deaths due to Covid, 19,166 new cases in a day. Positivity rate soars to 25 per cent: Health bulletin
? Today's Covid numbers: Delhi (19,166), Mumbai (13,648 cases), Bengaluru (9,221 cases), Kolkata (5,556 cases), Chennai (6,190 cases)
In fresh advisory for testing Covid samples, ICMR says contacts of Covid patients do not need testing unless identified as high risk based on age or comorbidities.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai tests positive for Covid-19
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has tested positive for COVID 19 and is in home isolation, his office said on Monday. The chief minister's office shared the information on its Twitter handle, adding that the septuagenarian has urged people of the state to follow all measures which are part of the Covid protocol.
Notably, on Monday last, several attendees of his 'Janta Ke Durbar Mein Mukhyamantri' programme had tested positive for the contagion. A day later, many ministers, including both Deputy CMs had tested positive just ahead of a cabinet meeting. This had prompted Kumar to suspend many of his programmes including the state-wide 'Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan' against alcohol consumption, and social evils like dowry and child marriage.
In the past one week, several staff members deployed at the Chief Minister's 1, Anne Marg, residence have been found infected with the coronavirus.
Restaurants and bars in Delhi will be shut from tomorrow onward. Only ‘take away’ and home delivery to be allowed.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday decided not to impose lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 and discussed further restrictions such as closing dine-in facility in restaurants and scaling down seating capacity in Metro trains and buses, officials said.
Karnataka on Monday reported 11,698 new Covid-19 cases and four related deaths. The test positivity rate shot to 7.77 per cent. 9,221 of the new cases and two deaths were reported in Bengaluru.Meanwhile, Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar said that 146 new cases of Omicron have been confirmed in Bengaluru today taking the overall tally of the new Covid variant in Karnataka to 479.
Five to 10 per cent of the active Covid cases this time so far needed hospitalisation but the situation is dynamic and may change rapidly, the Centre said on Monday and asked states to keep a watch on cases under home isolation and in hospitals.
During the second surge of Covid infections in the country, the percentage of active cases that needed hospital care were in the range of 20-23 per cent, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and Union territories. --PTI
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday permitted the conduct of Jallikattu, a popular traditional bull-taming sport in the State, during the Pongal festival with stringent Covid-19 safety norms in place.
The government made it mandatory for both the bull owners and their assistants who register their animals for the sport and the tamers, as well, to produce a fully vaccinated certificate besides RT-PCR test negative report at least 48 hours before the event. They would be provided identity cards to participate in the event, a government order passed on Monday said. --PTI
As Covid-19 cases continue to rise rapidly across the country, the Jharkhand government, much like other states, on Monday began administering the third shot or the precautionary dose to its frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities. The state has around 6.5 lakh people who are above 60 years of age and have comorbid conditions, the additional chief secretary of the health department, Arun Kumar Singh, said. "We will ensure that precautionary doses are administered to all healthcare and frontline workers, besides elderly with comorbidities," he told PTI. --PTI
University semester exams in Tamil Nadu slated for later this month have been deferred indefinitely due to the Covid-19 situation in the state, the government said on Monday.
Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi said the decision has been taken in consultation with Chief Minister M K Stalin who was keen about students' welfare. "All university exams are being deferred indefinitely due to the surging covid numbers. The revised schedule will be announce later," he told reporters. (PTI)
Senior citizens get vaccinated with the third dose at Ward 5 Market Char Rasta in Vadodara. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)
A senior citizen received a dose of Covishield at Kolkata's Dakuria Amri Hospital. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Booster dose for frontline workers and citizens above 60 year old commenced at Pune's Kamala Nehru hospital on Monday. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
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In view of the rising numbers of Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed that the number of attendees at weddings and funerals be limited to a maximum of 50 people.
The decision was taken at the Covid review meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, a state government release said. Last week, the government had directed that the number of people at marriages, funerals, political, social and cultural events in closed rooms be restricted to 75 and in open spaces to 150.
Now in the latest decision, it has been further reduced to 50 without specifying whether it is for closed rooms or open spaces or both. In the meeting, it was also decided that reunions, ceremonies, and general social, political, cultural and community events should be conducted online, except in urgent situations, the release said. (PTI)
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Monday said it has decided to close its 67 training centres across the country due to rising Covid-19 cases.
“The decision also comes in the wake of directives issued by various states to suspend sporting activities for the safety of athletes,” it added. Read more
Starting today, senior citizens above the age of 60 will be eligible for a ‘precaution dose’ of the Covid-19 vaccine. The same is also being given to those who are registered as frontline workers such as healthcare workers, nurses, doctors, etc. While the government has said that there is no need to register to get the ‘precautionary dose,’ and walk-ins are allowed, registering on Cowin can make it easier to get a fixed slot for this vaccination dose.
Check how to register for ‘precaution dose’ on the Cowin portal or using the Aarogya Setu app here.
Pune's Kamala Nehru Hospital on Monday rolled out the third 'precautionary dose' of Covid vaccine for senior citizens with co-morbidities, health care workers and front line workers.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a meeting with the Health ministers and high officials of five states -- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Maharashtra -- and two Union Territories -- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
The meeting will be held at 3:30 pm, Monday, to discuss the preparations for dealing with Covid-19 and related aspects.
Punjab on Monday began administering third 'precautionary doses' to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged above 60 years.
"For Mumbai, the third wave should peak somewhere around the middle of this month. That is not very far from now. Same with Delhi. According to our current calculation, which is preliminary, because we don’t have enough data for entire India, we expect the wave to peak somewhere in the beginning of next month," said Manindra Agrawal, Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, IIT Kanpur, durint the Idea Exchange session moderated by Amitabh Sinha, Resident Editor (Pune), The Indian Express. Read full interview here
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai launched the rollout of the third 'precaution dose' for priority groups at Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College in Bengaluru.
As senior citizens of Delhi stepped out for the third dose of Covid vaccination drive, The Indian Express spoke to a few of them:
Laxmi Narayan, 64, resident of East Kidwayi Nagar says, "I am feeling very much better. I tested positive in the first wave and I took both the (doses of the) vaccine. People should not fear and come out to get the vaccine. There is no pain and scare, just get vaccinated and wear mask. Nothing will happen, the corona will go and everyone will be safe."
NRS Kalyani, 84, says, "It is sad and painful that another wave is coming but at the same time, I am happy that the government has started the vaccination drive early and made all arrangements. I was tested positive earlier, during the second wave, and it was very scary. I request everyone to come forward and get the immunity booster."
Tamil Nadu and Telanga launched the Covid vaccination drive for the third 'precautionary dose' for frontline workers and senior citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin and Telangana Health Minister T Harish Rao were present at the launch in the respective states.
Delhi has not reported any case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus for two days now, maintaining a tally of 513 infections so far, data by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed on Monday. However, Rajasthan has shot past Delhi and recorded 156 Omicron cases in the last 24 hours.
Even though confirmed cases of Omicron are few, the new variant has been pushing up the number of coronavirus infections in the Capital. Delhi on Sunday reported 22,751 new Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate—the proportion of samples that return positive—of 23.53%, according to the daily health bulletin shared by the government. Read more
India on Monday began administering the third ‘precautionary doses’ to priority groups — health care workers, frontline workers and those aged above 60 years with comorbidities. According to the Centre’s directions, the third dose will be of the same vaccine as the first two doses, after an interval of nine months.
Amid a surge in coronavirus infections in the national capital, more than 300 Delhi Police personnel, including the Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Monday.
"More than 300 police personnel have been infected. They belong to different units of the force and are under quarantine," said a senior police officer.
The overall strength of the Delhi Police is over 80,000. (PTI)
According to the Union Ministry of Health, the Omicron tally in the country stood at 4,033, with Maharashtra (1,216) continuing to top the count.
Rajasthan crossed Delhi and Karnataka to become the second most-affected state with 529 Omicron cases. Delhi, meanwhile, reported 513 total cases, followed by Karnataka (441) and Kerala (333).
India on Monday recorded 1,79,723 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the active caseload to 7,23,619. The daily positivity rate stood at 13.29 per cent, while 146 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.
According to the Health Ministry the active cases account for 2.03 per cent of the total cases.
Today’s Covid numbers: Delhi (22751 cases); Mumbai (19474 cases); Kolkata (8712 cases); Bengaluru (9020 cases); Chennai (6186 cases)
As the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 continues to fuel a surge in the infection count across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a review meeting where he stressed upon the need to continue intensive containment and active surveillance in clusters reporting higher number of cases, and providing required technical assistance to states where the infection are surging rapidly.
He also underlined the necessity of using masks and boosting health infrastructure, and said there is a need for continuous research in testing, vaccines, pharmacological interventions, including genome sequencing as the coronavirus is evolving.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to interact with state health ministers tomorrow over the COVID-19 situation: Govt Sources
Covid vaccination certificates issued in the five poll-bound states will not have Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo since the model code of conduct has come into force there, an official source said. The Union Health Ministry will apply necessary filters on the Co-WIN platform to exclude Modi's photo from the vaccine certificate, the source said. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will be held between February 10 and March 7 in seven phases with the counting of votes on March 10, the Election Commission announced on Saturday. --PTI
As the tourist spots in Maharashtra will remain closed for citizens from tomorrow, people gathered at Shaniwarwada in Pune on Sunday. After a while, due to the crowd, the police came there and issued challans to violators for not wearing masks.
Andhra Pradesh reported 1,257 fresh cases of Covid-19, the highest in a day after September 24, 2021. The cumulative positives now increased to 20,81,859, the latest bulletin said. In 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday, the state also reported 140 recoveries and two more deaths, the bulletin said. The number of active cases shot up to 4,774 after a total of 20,62,580 recoveries and 14,505 deaths, it added. Chittoor district registered the highest 254 fresh cases, Visakhapatnam 196, Anantapuramu 138, Krishna 117, Guntur 104 and SPS Nellore 103. East Godavari reported 93, Vizianagaram 83 and Srikakulam 55 cases while the remaining four districts added less than 40 new cases each. --PTI
Tripura government on Sunday announced that the state would impose night curfew (9 pm-5 am) from Jan 10 to Jan 20. Movie halls, sports complexes & stadia, entertainment parks, bars can open with 50% capacity while gyms and swimming pools can be operated at 1/3 capacity.
Karnataka reports 12,000 fresh Covid-19 cases -- 9,020 in Bengaluru -- today, state Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K said. Positivity rate in the southern state stood at 6.33% while the number of active cases was 49,602.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday cancelled his public programmes till January 15 amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in the state, which has reported over 3,000 infections in just 12 days. The state reported eight Covid deaths during the period, pushing its fatality count to 3,864, according to an official data. The number of active cases stood at 2,811 on January 8, an eight-time increase from just 344 on December 28, after which 3,007 new infections surfaced in Himachal Pradesh. On December 27, the number of deaths stood at 3,856, the data showed. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in a Facebook post on Sunday said he has cancelled his public programmes till January 15 in view of the spurt in cases. --PTI
Nearly 400 staffers working with Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats and allied services have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last few days, triggering a move to impose restrictions on employees' attendance. According to sources, 65 staffers of Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 200 of Lok Sabha Secretariat and 133 of allied services have tested positive for COVID-19 between January 4-8 during regular tests. The development comes days before the Budget session of Parliament, which usually begins in the end of January. After the surge in cases among employees, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has reimposed restrictions on attendance of officials and staffers. According to the latest directions, 50 per cent of officials and staff below the rank of under secretary or executive officer are required to work from home till the end of this month. --PTI
Discounting the Covid-19 surge and weekend curfew, the Karnataka unit of the Congress on Sunday morning launched a padayatra (march), seeking the implementation of the Mekedatu drinking water project, caught in a legal wrangle with Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, meanwhile, called the march “politically motivated” and said that action would be taken against the Congress workers for violation of Covid-19 guidelines.
Rajyasabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge launched the march at Sangama, the confluence of Cauvery and Arkavathi rivers. On the first day, it will cover 15 km to reach Doddalahalli, the native village of Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar. Read more
Karnataka government will roll out the third 'precautionary dose' for priority groups -- health care and frontline workers and those aged above 60 years with commodities -- from January 10. CM Basavaraj Bommai will launch the drive at 10 am from Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Centre, Bengaluru.
Those vaccinated with Covaxin and Covishield will receive the same dose as before, while those vaccinated with Sputnik are not eligible for the third dose yet.
Puducherry clocked 444 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours as the test positivity rate shot up to 13.87 per cent, a top Health department official said on Sunday.
The 444 infections took the overall tally in the union territory to 1,30,722, Director of Health Department G Sriramulu said in a release in Puducherry. No fatality was reported in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Sunday, he said, adding the death toll stood at 1,882. Read more
Apart from a steep rise in Covid cases in Punjab, a cause of worry is the increased number of patients on oxygen in the past 24 hours. According to the state’s medical bulletin released on Saturday, 226 patients were put on oxygen support from just 62 on Friday. This was a jump of 264% in just 24 hours.
Only 23 patients were on oxygen support on January 1. The state reported 3,643 Covid cases against 2,901 on Friday. The number of Covid cases reported on January 1 was just 332. Read more
Around 22,000 cases are expected to be reported in Delhi on Sunday, up from a little over 20,000 cases on Saturday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, addressing a webcast.
He added, "There will be no lockdown in the city if you wear masks. We don’t want to impose a lockdown; that is not our intention."
Kejriwal, who said Sunday that he had recovered from Covid, added that precautions must be taken against the disease. “There will be around 22,000 cases in Delhi on Sunday. But there is no need to panic. I am saying this after studying data properly. It was on May 7 last year that we had a similar number of cases. Then, 341 people had died in a day and around 20,000 hospital beds were occupied. Yesterday (Saturday) there were 7 deaths. In this wave, the number of deaths and the rate of hospitalisation are low. I haven’t told you this so that you stop wearing masks and become irresponsible. I am telling you this so that you don’t panic. Wearing masks is extremely important,” he said. Read more
Ahead of the budget session this month, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu reviewed the Covid-19 situation and directed authorities to take appropriate measures to contain the spread of the virus among the Secretariat officials and staff, ANI reported.
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat has restricted staff attendance, directing 50 per cent of officials and staff below the rank of under secretary or executive officer to work from home till the end of this month. Those with disabilities and pregnant women have been exempted from attending office. Starting and closing timings of the Secretariat have been staggered to avoid crowding.
Further, all official meetings will be held virtually.
Fifteen people in the Jharkhand chief minister’s residence, including Hemant Soren’s wife and his two children have tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
Reports of 24 of the 62 people tested were available this evening and it was found that Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren, their two sons Nitin and Vishwajit, sister-in-law Sarla Murmu and a bodyguard were among the 15 affected.
Jharkhand Health and Family Welfare Minister Banna Gupta tested positive in the morning. Read more
Out of the 500 workers of a railway workshop in Maharashtra's Mahalaxmi area, a total of 62 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last four days, ANI reported. Sample testing of other workers is underway, the Western Railway PRO has said.
In a press conference on Sunday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, "There will be no lockdown in the city if you wear masks. We don't want to impose a lockdown, it is not our intention...We want to impose as few restrictions as possible so that people's livelihoods are not impacted."
"There is a DDMA meeting with experts on Monday, where we will discuss the Covid situation," he said.
The CM added, "Those who haven't got vaccinated, please do so. It is not like the vaccine will protect you completely from disease, but it will save you from severe symptoms."
The Assam government, in accordance with the Centre's policy, has said that a Covid-19 patient under home isolation will be considered discharged after seven days without having taken a second test, provided the person did not get fever for three consecutive days.
The patients will, however, continue to be under home quarantine for seven more days, the SOP stated. "There is no need for re-testing after the home isolation period is over. Asymptomatic contacts of infected individuals need not undergo Covid test but should monitor his or her health condition in home quarantine," the document said. (PTI)
Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, Punjab minister Rana Gurjeet Singh and three family members of Channi family on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19.
While Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi tested negative for the infection, Chautala in his tweet said that he had mild fever and has isolated himself.
Mohali civil surgeon Dr Adarshpal Kaur said Channi’s wife Kamaljit Kaur, his son Navjit Singh and daughter-in-law Simrandheer Kaur have tested positive for Covid-19. They all have mild symptoms and are in home-isolation, she added. Read more
Karnataka recorded 8,906 new cases on Saturday, of which 7,113 were reported in Bengaluru Urban. While the state's positivity rate stood at 6.77%, Bengaluru's was at 10.39%.
Taking to Twitter, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that he has recovered from Covid-19. "After recovering from Corona, I am back at your service," he tweeted.
The AAP convenor announced that he had contracted the virus on Tuesday, last week. He will be addressing a press conference at 12 noon today.
BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday tweeted that he has tested positive for Covid-19. He stated that amid the third wave of infections, the Election Commission should extend precautionary doses to candidates and political workers as well.
In view of a surge in Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that a complete lockdown will be observed on all Sundays. Meanwhile, a night curfew (from 10 pm – 5 am) has been imposed in the state for other days. Read more
According to news agency PTI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in the country at around 4:30 pm today (January 9).
As Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Delhi, Swami Dayanand Hospital in East Delhi Municipal Corporation area has started a helpline called “Corona Mitra”.
Dr Gladbin Tyagi, the nodal officer, said that the hospital has also completed all preparations to deal with a third wave of the pandemic. He added that the helpline aims to help out Covid patients as doctors will be throughout the day for tele-consultation.
People can call on 22119747, 22314028 (extension 272) where Dr. Nitin Singh (9560840823) and Dr Rajkumar Sanjay (9821071650) will be available from 9 am to 4 pm. Tyagi said that a flu clinic, too, has been made operational in the hospital.