Covid-19 Jan 24 Highlights: Mandaviya to interact with health ministers of 9 states/UTs on Covid-19 on Tuesday; Maharashtra, Delhi, Mumbai witness sharp decline in fresh infections

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Bihar has dropped to under 2,000 with 1,821 of them reported on Monday, a bulletin issued by the state health department said. The figure is 1182 less than that on Sunday, the bulletin said. The toll due the disease in the state during the day was eight and the number of recoveries 4829, it said. The total fatalities due to the pandemic is now 12193 and its caseload 8,13,342. The total figure of active cases of COVID-19 in Bihar stood at 14,832 on Monday, while 78,6317 people have recuperated from the disease so far, it said. (PTI)

Tamil Nadu recorded 30,215 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours that was slightly lower than 30,580 infections added to its registry on January 23 but the fatalities rose to 46 – about six more than that recorded the previous day. The toll so far has mounted to 37, 264. With a total of 31,64,205 people testing positive till date, the number of active cases, including those in isolation, rose to 2,06,484, according to a bulletin from the State Health Department on Monday. Passengers who returned by road from Andhra Pradesh were five in number, and Karnataka and Tripura one 1 each, all added to 30,215 fresh infections today, the bulletin said. With 24,639 COVID-19 positive patients getting discharged following treatment today, the total recoveries increased to 29,20,457 till date. (PTI)

Registering a dip in cases, Karnataka on Monday logged 46,426 new cases of COVID-19, and 32 fatalities, taking the tally to 35,64,108 and the death toll to 38,614. The state had recorded 50,210 fresh infections on Sunday. There were 41,703 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 31,62,977, a health department bulletin said. Of the new cases today, 21,569 were from Bengaluru Urban that saw 27,008 people being discharged and 9 virus-related deaths. The total number of active cases across the state is now at 3,62,487. (PTI)

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The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 162.77 crore on Monday, the Union Health Ministry said. More than 49 lakh (49,52,290) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm, taking the total number of doses to 1,62,77,06,092. More than 87 lakh (87,33,359) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities. (PTI)

Mumbai reports 1, 857 new COVID19 cases, 503 recoveries and 11 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Active cases 21,142 (ANI)

Belgium's health ministers have approved a recommendation to use a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine to better protect people with a weakened immune system against the virus. Christie Morreale, the minister for public health in the federal government, said Monday that she and her regional counterparts have greenlighted the proposal made by the country's health council. Morreale did not give a date for the start of the programme. About 77% of Belgium's nearly 11.5 million people are now fully vaccinated, and some 6.3 million Belgians have received a booster dose, according to the latest figures from health authorities. (PTI)

Rajasthan reported 23 deaths and 9,480 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, pushing the fatality count to 9,118 and infection tally to 11,39,382, according to an official report. Five deaths were recorded in Jodhpur, while Jaipur reported four new fatalities, Bikaner, Jhalawar, Pratapgarh (two each), Ajmer, Dholpur, Gangangagar, Jalore, Karauli, Pali, Sikar and Tonk (one each), according to the Medical and Health department report. Of the fresh cases, Jaipur reported a maximum of 2,424, while 621 people tested positive for the virus in Jodhpur. (PTI)

The civic body in Mumbai on Monday said 248 of the 280 samples sent for genome testing have been detected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus, an official said. This was the eighth batch of samples, comprising 280 from civic limits and 93 from outside, that had been sent to check for the presence of Omicron, he said, adding that 21 samples had the Delta derivative and 11 samples were found with other variants of coronavirus. As per the release, of the 280 samples from BMC limits, 96 or 34 per cent were of patients in the 21-40 age group, 79 or 28 per cent were in the 41-60 age group, 69 in the 61-80 age segment, 22 in the 0-20 segment and 14 or five per cent in the 81-plus bracket. (PTI)

Union Territory of Puducherry registered 1,130 new cases of coronavirus infection during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM on Monday and pushed the overall tally to 1,53,343. A press release from Director of Health G.Sriramulu said the new cases were identified at the end of examination of 2,585 samples and these cases were spread over Puducherry (906), Karaikal (167), Mahe (17) and Yanam (40). Sriramulu said the active cases were 15,652 which comprised 185 patients in hospitals while remaining 15,467 patients were in home isolation. He said two more persons died of the infection taking the toll to 1,908. (PTI)

Odisha is heading towards community transmission of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 like some other parts of the country, a senior health official said here on Monday. Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said that Omicron infections comprised 60 per cent of daily cases last week, and it could be more now, indicating that the state is heading towards community transmission of the new strain. “We will soon get data on the present rate of Omicron infection among new COVID-19 cases,” he said. Mishra said that when more cases of new variants are found among local people having no international travel history, it should be considered as community transmission. (PTI)

Japan's government plans to put the majority of the country under pre-emergency status and extend COVID-19 restrictions as omicron cases have surged and threatened to disrupt basic services like hospitals and schools. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that he will tighten anti-virus measures in 18 more prefectures, including Hokkaido in the north to Osaka and Kyoto in western Japan, until Feb 20. This will be in addition to areas where similar restrictions are already in place or to be further extended, including Tokyo, Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima. “Many people are feeling increasingly uneasy as the infections rapidly spread,” Kishida told reporters. “I want to obtain the people's cooperation to overcome this crisis.” (AP)

Fully vaccinated travellers entering England will soon be exempt from any COVID test requirements, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed on Monday. Speaking to reporters during a visit to a hospital in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Johnson said the daily Omicron variant data is getting better and it was time for the country to be more open for travellers. Over the weekend, the UK recorded 74,799 cases and 75 COVID deaths. “Although we have to be cautious, we are now moving through the Omicron wave, and you can see the figures are starting to get better,” Johnson said. “So what we're doing on travel, to show that this country is open for business, open for travellers, you will see changes so that people arriving no longer have to take tests if they have been vaccinated, if they have been double vaccinated,” he said. (PTI)

The COVID-19 tally in Nashik reached 4,51,688 on Monday with the addition of 2,204 cases, while one death took the toll to 8,783, an official said. So far, 4,25,918 people have been discharged post recovery, including 1,484 during the day, leaving the district with an active tally of 16,987, he said. (PTI)

Active cases in Andhra Pradesh mounted to 93,305 with the daily infection positivity rate crossing 35 per cent, as the State registered 14,502 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Monday. The State had recorded 14,440 new infections yesterday. According to the latest bulletin, seven more fatalities were reported, while 4,800 infected persons got cured in the 24 hours. The cumulative case count increased to 21,95,136, while recoveries touched 20,87,282 and deaths 14,549. (PTI)