Coronavirus Omicron India December 27 Highlights: EC asks Health Secretary to expedite vaccination programme in poll-bound states

Of 6,098 applications received under the 'PM CARES for Children' scheme, 3,481 children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic have been approved as eligible for its benefits, the government said on Monday. In a statement, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said as per the PM CARES for children portal, total applications registered as on December 24 is 6,098, out of which 3,481 applications have been approved by district magistrates. It also said post office accounts have been opened for 3,275 beneficiaries under the scheme. Under the scheme, a quantum of sponsorship of Rs 2,000 per child per month is available for non-institutional care of children and maintenance grant of Rs 2,160 per child per month for children living in child care institutions. The ministry also said 704 ‘One Stop Centers' or ‘Sakhi Centers' have been set up across 34 states/UTs. Women affected by violence and in need of assistance, medical and legal aid and counseling and psycho-social counseling are being helped and as on December 24, assistance has been provided to over 54 lakh women. Meanwhile, a meeting of the Empowered Committee (EC) of Officers was held wherein the status of implementation of earlier approved projects/schemes funded by the Nirbhaya fund was reviewed. The ministry said the EC had approved 'in-principle' 16 initiatives to be undertaken for safety and security of women on various aspects such as training of duty bearers, drivers, mental health, lighting of dark spots, providing timely victim compensation, police assistance booth, relief and shelter support to minor girls, among others. “Further, during current financial year 2021-22, two proposals worth Rs 114.89 crore were approved for opening One Stop Centers (OSCs) in India Missions abroad, Rs 40.79 crore for critical care and support for accessing justice to rape/gang-rape survivors and minor girls who get pregnant, among others, the ministry added. (PTI)

ITALY REPORTS 30,810 CORONAVIRUS CASES ON MONDAY (24,883 ON SUNDAY) - HEALTH MINISTRY (Reuters)

India reported over 150 fresh Omicron infections with Goa and Manipur on Monday registering their first cases as the total tally of this latest variant of COVID-19 touched nearly 600. With the surge in cases, the Centre issued a fresh advisory to all states and union territories, asking them not to let the guard down. According to Union Health Ministry data updated in the morning, 156 fresh cases of Omicron were logged, taking the tally of such cases to 578. However, 151 out of the 578 people, who contracted the infection, have recovered or migrated. The 578 cases have been detected across 19 states and union territories with Delhi recording the maximum number of 142 cases followed by Maharashtra at 141, Kerala 57, Gujarat 49, Rajasthan 43 and Telangana 41. India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,47,93,333, while the active cases declined to 75,841, according to the data updated at 8 am. The death toll has climbed to 4,79,997 with 315 fresh fatalities, the data stated. (PTI)

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 111 fresh COVID-19 cases and one fatality due to the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the infection count to 3,40,833 and the death toll to 4,524, officials said on Monday. Thirty-two of the fresh cases were from the Jammu division and 79 from the Kashmir division of the Union territory, the officials said. They said Srinagar district recorded a maximum of 38 new cases, followed by 21 cases in Jammu district. The Union Territory now has 1,333 active COVID-19 cases, while the count of recoveries stands at 3,34,976, the officials said. The mucormycosis (black fungus) infection count in the UT remained unchanged at 50 as no fresh case was reported, they said. (PTI)

Amid the surge in Omicron cases, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) on Monday said it has issued an advisory to its members on strictly following guidelines notified by the Maharashtra government. The advisory requests all F&B (food and beverages) establishments to display prominently, as per their licences or permissions, the full capacity along with 50 per cent of that capacity, HRAWI said in a statement. For the enclosed spaces, it said the total number of attendees at any time should not exceed 100 and for open to sky spaces, 250 or 25 per cent of the capacity. HRAWI President Sherry Bhatia said, "The Omicron threat is real and we must support the government in curbing its spread. This is in the interest of not just the government but also to ensure that we do not go under another lockdown." Bhatia added that the hospitality industry has been compliant with the government's guidelines all through the pandemic and even at this juncture, it will be critical not to let the guard down even for a moment. "We request all our members that we commit to ensuring our own safety and thereby our guests' for ushering in the New Year by not letting this virus win," Bhatia said. (PTI)

With the number of fresh COVID-19 cases going up by 10 times from what it was at the beginning of the month in Delhi, experts on Monday said the number of cases will see an increase in the next couple of months due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, with the peak likely to be attained in February. Delhi reported 290 fresh Covid cases on Sunday with a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent, while the number of new cases and the positivity rate rose to 331 and 0.68 per cent respectively on Monday. The national capital reported 39 fresh cases of the infection with a positivity rate of 0.07 per cent on December 1. The following day, the positivity rate had declined to 0.06 per cent, while the number of fresh cases was 41. Between December 9 and December 15, Delhi logged 48 daily cases on an average, which rose to 95 between December 16 and December 22. According to official data, it was a rise of 49.47 per cent on a weekly basis. Epidemiologist Giridhar R Babu said, "It is very unlikely that the number of cases has risen due to the festive season because in that case, the impact would have been seen 14 days after Diwali in November and the number of cases would have risen by November-end. The number is rising due to the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible. The cases will see a rapid ascent and a rapid descent and the peak is likely to come between mid-January and mid-February." Dr Jugal Kishore, the head of the community medicine department at the Safdarjung hospital, said the number of coronavirus cases and the positivity rate are bound to increase, but will not translate into mortality. "What we can say is that 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the present cases could be related to Omicron, while the rest could be due to other variants. The transmission occurs because of proximity. In winter, people are indoors and meeting each other in a close-knit environment, and even the number of influenza cases rises during this period," he said. The senior doctor also said till the time the panic button is not pressed and the situation is managed well, there will not be any issue. "All kinds of disasters are results of a system failure. The government should formulate guidelines on proper management. Those who are suffering from issues like a severe headache or fever should go to hospitals while the rest should manage at home and should not even go for testing. After testing positive, the person will panic trying to grab hospital beds and medicines," he said. Babu said those who have not been vaccinated and have not been infected with the virus are more susceptible and it is that population that needs to be looked after. Kishore echoed similar views and said while vaccination does not mean one would not contract the infection, it certainly reduces the severity of the infection. (PTI)

Kerala continued to report less than 2,000 fresh COVID-19 cases for the second day running with the state logging 1,636 new infections on Monday, which took the caseload to 52,24,929 till date. Also, the State reported 236 deaths, which raised the toll to 46,822 so far, an official press release said. Of the 236 deaths, 23 were recorded over the last few days and 213 designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court. With 2,864 more people recovering from the virus since Sunday, the total recoveries reached 51,68,028 and the active cases dropped to 21,224, the release said. (PTI)

The Maharashtra cabinet on Monday expressed concern over the rising COVID-19 cases in the state and stressed on the need to expedite the pace of vaccination and effective steps to curb the spread of coronavirus, whose new variant Omicron is causing fresh worries. The number of active cases has increased by nearly 50 per cent in the last 20 days, the cabinet was told at its meeting here. As on December 26, the state had 9,813 active cases of the infectious disease. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who virtually joined the meeting held in Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai, asked for a meeting of state COVID-19 task force in a day or two to review the prevailing coronavirus situation. A statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said Thackeray suggested strict vigilance and effective steps to curb the spread of the virus. The statement said the cabinet expressed concern over the rise in COVID-19 cases in the last few days. Health secretary Pradeep Vyas made a presentation before the cabinet in which he said a further rise in the number of active cases is expected in January, according to the statement. The need of the hour is to expedite the pace of vaccination, the senior bureaucrat said, adding a few days ago, eight lakh vaccine doses were being administered to people in a day in the state, but that number has now come down to 5 lakh shots. The health secretary said on December 8, there were 6,200 active cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra and currently, their count has shot up to around 10,000. "In the last 20 days, the number of active cases has risen by nearly 50 per cent. Also, in the last six days, the number of daily cases has seen a three-fold rise," he said. The state's COVID-19 positivity rate is 1.06 per cent, Vyas said. On December 26, the state reported 1,648 new cases. The statement said the Chief Minister at the meeting directed all guardian ministers to expedite vaccination in their respective districts. (PTI)

Andhra Pradesh on Monday reported 54 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest ever during the second wave, taking the cumulative infections to 20,76,546, while the toll remained at 14,490 as there were no fatalities. Active cases stood at 1,099, a Health department bulletin said, providing details of the last 24 hours ending 9 AM today. As many as 121 people recovered from the disease leaving the total number of recoveries at 20,60,957, the bulletin said. Nearly 18,000 samples were tested during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested so far is over 3.11 crore. Chittoor district topped the chart with highest number of active cases with 248 followed by East Godavari (137). (PTI)

The Odisha government on Monday said there is no need to impose restrictions such as night curfew and lockdown across the state as of now amid concerns over the detection of eight cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the coastal state. Night curfew is in force in all urban areas of the state from 10 pm to 5 am. State's Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra told journalists here, “Currently, the situation is not conducive for imposing the curbs. Lockdown or night curfew is clamped after considering factors such as the number of daily cases, test positivity rate, total active cases, and hospitalisation rate.” Odisha has already banned public celebrations to ring in the New Year. Referring to the details of the Omicron cases detected in the state thus far, the top health official said, 18 international passengers had tested positive for COVID-19 through RT-PCR tests. “Their samples were sent for genome sequencing, and eight of them were found to be infected with Omicron variant. “The health condition of all the Omicron-infected patients is stable. Most of them were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms,” Mishra said. On Monday, Odisha logged 123 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 10,54,004, the health department said in a bulletin. The COVID-19 death toll mounted to 8,453, with another patient succumbing to the infection in Khurda district. Besides, 53 COVID-19 patients died due to comorbidities in the past, the bulletin said. Seventeen children were among the 123 new infections logged on Monday. The state, at present, has 1,572 active cases and 144 people recuperated from the disease on Sunday, taking the total number of recoveries to 10,43,926. Odisha has conducted a total of 55,084 sample tests for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, and the daily positivity rate is 0.22 per cent, it said. On Sunday, Odisha had reported 112 new COVID-19 cases and one fatality. More than 2.89 crore people have been inoculated with the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 1.98 crore beneficiaries have been administered the second jab, it added. (PTI)

At least 13 students of an engineering college in Pune city of Maharashtra have tested positive for coronavirus, an official from the institution said on Monday. (PTI)