Coronavirus Vaccine Registration, Coronavirus Omicron Variant Cases in India Highlights: In a matter of global concern, federal health officials have confirmed on Monday that Omicron has raced ahead of other variants in the US and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus there. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week, news agency PTI reported.
India too saw a siginificant rise in Omicron cases on Monday which created a sense of fear and caution amongst the people and the state governments. Delhi led the increase in Omicron tally on Monday with eight cases, closely followed by Karnataka and Kerala with five and four cases, respectively. One case each was reported from Rajasthan and Gujarat as well. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed that of the total 161 cases of the new variant detected on Monday, 13% were mild, 80% were asymptomatic and 44 had recovered so far. The minister said that the Centre is keeping a close watch on the Omicron situation in the country and the virus has also been cultured in labs domestically to test the efficacy of the existing vaccines. He also said that the first and second wave of the coronavirus had prepared the government to arrange a “buffer stock of important medicines” in case their need arises.
Amid the Omicron scare and the growing number of coronavirus cases in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday afternoon said all samples that test positive for the infection will now be sent for genome sequencing, news agency PTI reported. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority in which the Omicron situation, including its possible effects and steps to deal with it, was discussed, the Delhi CM was quoted as saying by PTI. Kejriwal even urged the government to allow booster shots to fully vaccinated city residents. The chief minister also asked the people not to panic, and make sure they wear masks when out to protect themselves against the virus.
The number of coronavirus cases are also being reported in hundreds across the country. While Maharashtra on Monday reported 544 new Covid-19 infections, Tamil Nadu recorded 605. Kerala on the other hand saw a staggering 2,230 new infections in the state which took the caseload to 52,07,990.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry on Monday morning shared the latest data on the coronavirus cases and related stats, in the country. As per the data, India recorded 5,326 new Covd-19 cases, 8,043 recoveries, and 453 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Here are the latest and verified Covid-19 updates from India and around the globe:
The number of COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh reached 7,93,532 on Tuesday after 23 people were detected with the infection, while one death took the toll to 10,530, an official said.
So far, 7,82,815 people have been discharged from hospitals post recovery, including 19 during the day, leaving the state with an active tally of 187, he said.
With 53,638 samples being examined during the day, the number of tests carried out in MP went up to 2,30,91,740, the official added.
A total of 9,89,63,093 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, including 2,73,480 on Tuesday, a government release informed.
Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 7,93,532, new cases 23, death toll 10,530, recoveries 7,82,815, active cases 187, number of tests so far 2,30,91,740. (PTI)
Maharashtra reports 825 new COVID-19 cases, 792 recoveries and 14 deaths in the last 24 hours.
11 more patients have been found to be infected by Omicron. Till date, a total of 65 patients infected with the #omicron variant have been reported in the state. (ANI)
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday issued an order to disburse Rs 31.92 crore to 6,385 applicants whose kin succumbed to COVID-19.
The order, issued by the state department for disaster management, said Rs 50,000 cash will be transferred.
Over 1 lakh COVID-19 patients have died in Maharashtra since the pandemic began in March last year. (PTI)
Asserting that the Omicron variant is at least thrice more transmissible than Delta, the Centre Tuesday asked states and union territories to “activate” war rooms, keep analyzing even small trends and surges and keep taking strict and prompt containment action at district and local levels.
In a letter to the states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan advised implementing strategic interventions for containment like imposition of night curfew, strict regulation of large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals besides increasing testing and surveillance. | Read More
We've allowed the New Year's celebrations here as it's a tourist destination but with strict Covid protocols. We are doing door-to-door vaccination. I appeal to people to get the vaccination done before New Year's celebrations: Puducherry LG, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (ANI)
COVID-19 | Kerala reports 2,748 new cases, 33 deaths and 3,202 recoveries today; Active cases at 28,035. Death tally at
45,155
200 deaths were added to the death tally as per the new guidelines of the Central government, states Kerala govt. (ANI)
Amid growing cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the city, authorities have intensified enforcement of Covid appropriate behaviour and fined over 68,000 people this month till December 18 for violating norms such as wearing of masks, maintaining social distancing etc., official data showed.
Last month in November, the Delhi government's enforcement teams had issued challans against 1,12,076 people for violating Covid appropriate behaviour norms. While the police had issued 4675 fines against people for not wearing masks in the same month.
According to data provided by the Delhi government, enforcement teams of the government and Delhi police cumulatively fined 68,833 people for not wearing masks and not following social distancing norms between December 1 and 18.
“Delhi government teams challaned 66,85 people for not adhering to COVID appropriate behaviour this month till December 18. While Delhi Police fined 1983 people for similar offence till December 16. So by the end of this month we may cross the number of people fined in November,” a government official said.
Delhi has recorded 54 cases of Omicron variant so far. Delhi tops the country jointly with Maharashtra in terms of Omicron variant cases. The country has so far witnessed 200 cases of Omicron variant.
The data also showed that the authorities have lodged FIRs against 1,210 offenders in connection with not following COVID norms.
The government has realised a revenue of Rs 13,28,45,200 in December so far by imposing fines against violators.
In November, the government had collected Rs 21.23 crore from fines issued against violators of COVID appropriate behaviour.
In October this year, the government had issued 1,27,862 fines and collected revenue of Rs 25.10 crore.
The number of fines issued was highest in July this year between May and December. In July the authorities had issued 2,44,223 fines against violators for not wearing masks and not following social distancing.
Omicron cases had started growing in the country with the starting of December.
Delhi reported its first case of Omicron on December 5 when a 37-year-old fully vaccinated man who arrived in the city from Tanzania was tested positive for Omicron.
According to the authorities, Delhi has recorded 102 fresh COVID-19 cases with one fatality on Tuesday.
After a meeting of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday made an appeal to the public to not let their guards down and start wearing masks again to arrest the spread of coronavirus.
He also said that there was no need to panic as the Delhi government is fully prepared to deal with the Omicron variant of Covid and he is in constant touch with experts over the issue.
He had said that all the positive cases will now be sent for genome sequencing to ascertain if the new positive cases are Omicron variant or the normal Covid. (PTI)
Amid Omicron scare, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that prior permission is now mandatory for any program or event to be attended by 200 or more people.
As per a circular issued on December 20, permission of the local assistant municipal commissioner will be required for such programs or functions. | Read More
COVID-19 | Tamil Nadu reports 602 new cases, 5 deaths and 691 recoveries; Active cases 7,078 (ANI)
Maharashtra reports 11 new cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus, tally rises to 65: Health dept (PTI)
Union Health Secy Rajesh Bhushan writes to all States/UTs: “Omicron is at least 3 times more transmissible than Delta. Hence, even greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making & strict & prompt containment action are required at the local & district level” (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday logged 95 fresh COVID-19 cases , taking the cumulative infections to 20,75,974, while the toll rose to 14,481 with one more fatality.
Active cases stood at 1,432, a health department bulletin said providing details of the last 24 hours ending 9 AM today.
As many as 179 people recovered from the disease leaving the total number of recoveries at 20,60,061, the bulletin said.
The lone death was reported in Krishna district.
Over 27,000 samples were tested during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested is over 3.10 crore.
Chittoor district topped the chart with highest number of active cases with 273 followed by East Godavari (236). (PTI)
RT-PCR tests account for 88.50 per cent of the total COVID-19 tests conducted so far in December, up from 50 per cent in the corresponding month last year, according to government data.Officials said the increase can be attributed to the “credibility” associated with RT-PCR tests and better testing infrastructure as compared to the last year.Government data showed that out of 11.86 lakh Covid tests conducted so far in December, 10.49 lakh were RT-PCR tests. | Read More
Three out of the 34 Omicron-positive patients admitted at the Lok Nayak Hospital here do not have any travel history, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Tuesday. Jain also reiterated the demand to stop all international flights, saying it is the only way to contain the spread of the new Covid variant in India. | Read More
Over 96 lakh healthcare workers out of the 1.05 crore registered with the government’s CoWIN portal have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus till December 17, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.In written response to a question in the Upper House of Parliament, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said states and union territories are expected to maintain details of the healthcare workers infected with the virus. | Read More
The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) are deliberating and considering scientific evidences related to vaccination of children, Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. | Read More
The total number of cases of new Omicron variant of COVID-19 recorded in the national capital has mounted to 54, according to data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday. Some details related to 45 of these cases in Delhi have been shared by authorities, but details on the remaining nine cases are awaited. | Read More
Vaccine protection against Omicron: With the Omicron variant emerging, naturally numerous studies also began to look into whether the current vaccines would be sufficient to tackle the variant. Now, new studies are indicating that vaccines, especially booster shots, could provide protection from the worst outcomes of the omicron variant of coronavirus, according to a report in NYT. The research studies, however, have also said that the fast-spreading variant would be able to cause many breakthrough infections among the vaccinated populations, while also being able to re-infect people who have caught an older variant of SARS-CoV-2. | Read More
Thailand reinstates mandatory COVID-19 quarantine over Omicron concerns (Reuters)
Till now, there're 34 cases of Omicron variant in LNJP hospital. Out of these 34 patients, 17 patients discharged: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain
We will check with the Centre's & private hospitals: Satyendar Jain on being asked about MoHFW stating 54 Omicron cases in Delhi (ANI)
COVID-19 | Delhi reports 102 new cases, 1 death in the last 24 hours; Active caseload stands at 557 (ANI)
The protection offered by the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine declines after three months of receiving two doses of the preventive, according to a study published in The Lancet journal. The findings drawn from datasets in Brazil and Scotland suggest that booster programmes are needed to help maintain protection from severe disease in those vaccinated with AstraZeneca, known as Covishield in India. The researchers analysed data for two million people in Scotland and 42 million people in Brazil who had been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. In Scotland, when compared with two weeks after receiving a second dose, there was approximately a fivefold increase in the chance of being hospitalised or dying from COVID-19 nearly five months after being double vaccinated, the researchers said. The decline in effectiveness begins to first appear at around three months, when the risk of hospitalisation and death is double that of two weeks after the second dose, they said. The researchers from Scotland and Brazil found that the risk of hospitalisation and death increases threefold just short of four months after the second vaccine dose. Similar numbers were seen for Brazil, they said. “Vaccines have been a key tool in fighting the pandemic, but waning in their effectiveness has been a concern for a while,” said Professor Aziz Sheikh, from the University of Edinburgh, UK. “By identifying when waning first starts to occur in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, it should be possible for governments to design booster programmes that can ensure maximum protection is maintained,” Sheikh said. The team was able to compare data between Scotland and Brazil as they had a similar interval between doses — 12 weeks — and initial prioritisation of who was vaccinated — people at highest risk of severe disease and healthcare workers. The dominant variant was different in each country during the study period — Delta in Scotland and Gamma in Brazil. This means the decline in effectiveness is likely because of vaccine waning and the impact of variants, according to the researchers. (PTI)
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2021
The Biden administration will open federal COVID-19 testing sites in New York City this week and buy 500 million at-home rapid tests that Americans can order online for free starting in January as it tries to tackle the Omicron variant sweeping the country. Striking a more dire tone about the risks of remaining unvaccinated, President Joe Biden will lay out the initiatives on Tuesday in a speech that aims to persuade Americans to protect themselves from the fast-spreading variant, a senior administration official said. The measures include activating some 1,000 military medical personnel to support hospitals. “We will also note that if you are unvaccinated, you are at high risk of getting sick. This variant is highly transmissible and the unvaccinated are eight times more likely to be hospitalized and 14 times more likely to die from COVID,” the official said. With the holiday travel season already begun, new COVID-19 cases are surging in the United States, prompting local and federal officials to again confront just how far to go to combat the virus. Federal officials said that Omicron now accounts for 73% of all new cases, up from less than 1% at the beginning of the month. Health officials in Texas said on Monday the state recorded what ABC News reported is believed to be the first known U.S. death related to Omicron. The highly contagious variant was first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong, and has raced around the globe and been reported in 89 countries, the World Health Organization said on Saturday. Lines for COVID-19 tests wrapped around the block in New York, Washington and other U.S. cities over the weekend as people clamored to find out if they were infected before celebrating the holidays with family. Facing criticism that testing resources are inadequate, Biden will announce on Tuesday that the federal government will buy 500 million at-home rapid tests and make them available to all Americans in January. Americans can access a new website to have them delivered, but officials are still working on how many tests a household can request. The administration will also open multiple federal testing centers starting in New York City ahead of Christmas, a senior administration official said. More federal sites will be opened across the country in areas of high need and when requested by local and state officials, the official said. (Reuters)
Hungary decided to rejoin the European Union's COVID-19 vaccine procurement process to shield its population from the Omicron variant, ordering 9.5 million doses of the jab developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer . Prime Minister Viktor Orban also told a news conference on Tuesday that he expected the European Commission would publish a clear stance before the end of the year including nuclear energy in its “sustainable finance taxonomy”, a rulebook that will restrict which activities can be labelled as climate friendly investments. (Reuters)
BSP MP Danish Ali who attended Lok Sabha proceedings on Monday has tested positive for COVID-19. The parliamentarian, who is fully vaccinated, has mild symptoms. Ali tweeted on Tuesday to say that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “Despite being fully vaccinated, today, I tested positive for COVID-19. Yesterday, I attended Parliament also,” he said and requested all those who came in contact with him to get tested and isolate themselves. “I am having mild symptoms and hope to recover soon,” he said. The Winter Session of Parliament is scheduled to end on December 23. (PTI)
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2021
BSP MP Danish Ali who attended Lok Sabha proceedings on Monday has tested positive for COVID-19. The parliamentarian, who is fully vaccinated, has mild symptoms. Ali tweeted on Tuesday to say that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “Despite being fully vaccinated, today, I tested positive for COVID-19. Yesterday, I attended Parliament also,” he said and requested all those who came in contact with him to get tested and isolate themselves. “I am having mild symptoms and hope to recover soon,” he said. (PTI)
The complete COVID vaccination has crossed the 75 per cent mark in Kerala as over two crore people have received both the first and second doses of the jab, the state government said here on Tuesday. A total of 2,60,09,703 crore people- 97.38 per cent of the total population to be vaccinated, have taken the first dose of the jab while 2,00,32,229 people-75 per cent- received the second shot, state Health Minister Veena George said here. As many as 4,60,41,932 doses-both first and second, were given in this regard in the southern state, she said in a statement here. “This is much higher than the national average. Kerala has achieved this feat when the percentage of the first and second dose vaccinations stood at 88.33 and 58.98 per cent respectively at the national level,” George said. Almost 100 per cent people have received the first dose in Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Ernakulam, Wayanad and Kannur districts, she said. The high range Wayanad is ahead in the drive of complete vaccination with 85 per cent people receiving two doses of the jab. Health workers and COVID front line fighters have received 100 per cent of the first dose and 91 and 93 per cent of the second dose respectively, she said. More women have taken vaccine shots in comparison to men in the state, she said, quoting figures. A total of 2.40 crore doses of vaccine have been received by women against 2.19 shots by men, George added. Stating that special vaccination drives are underway in the state in view of Omicron, the minister said Kerala presently has a stock of 10 lakh vaccine doses She also urged people to abide by social distancing norms and other health protocols strictly and those who were yet to receive the jabs, to take them at the earliest. (PTI)
