Coronavirus Omicron Feb 17 Highlights: Gujarat to enforce night curfew in Ahmedabad and Vadodara from February 18 to 25

The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 10,31,589 on Thursday after the detection of 1,328 new cases, while the death toll grew to 10,709 as six more patients succumbed to the infection, a health department official said.

There are 11,535 active cases in the state and the positivity rate remained unchanged at 1.8 per cent.

Since 2,780 people recuperated during the day, the recovery count stood at 10,09,345, he said.

Bhopal and Indore, the two worst coronavirus-hit cities of Madhya Pradesh, registered 297 and 101 cases, respectively, in the past 24 hours, he said.

As 70,975 samples were examined during the day, the overall test count in the state went up to 2,71,70,763, the official said.

A government release said that 11,27,40,817 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, including 78,979 on Thursday.

The coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 10,31,589, new cases 1,328, death toll 10,709, recoveries 10,09,345, active cases 11,535, number of tests so far 2,71,70,763. (PTI)

Mumbai did not record any fresh death linked to COVID-19 for the third day in a row on Thursday, while 259 more people tested positive for the infection and the active tally dropped below the 2,000-mark, the city civic body said.

With this, the overall tally of coronavirus infections jumped to 10,54,991, while the death toll remained unchanged at 16,685, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) bulletin said. | READ MORE

Night curfew (12am-5am) to be enforced in only two cities of the state, Ahmedabad and Vadodara from 18th February to 25th February: Gujarat Chief Minister's Office (ANI)

COVID19 | Delhi records 739 new cases & 5 deaths in the last 24 hours; Active cases stand at 3,026 (ANI)

Hong Kong's hospitals reached 90% capacity on Thursday and quarantine facilities were at their limit, authorities said, as the city struggles to snuff out a record number of new cases by adhering to China's “zero tolerance” strategy.

To ease the strain on the city's healthcare system, officials said they would take a different approach to hospitalization and isolation policies and allow some patients to be discharged sooner. The move comes amid reports of patients being treated on beds outside a hospital in the city's working-class neighbourhood of Sham Shui Po.

Hong Kong reported 6,116 new coronavirus infections on Thursday. Any person in the city who is infected with COVID-19 must be admitted to a hospital or community isolation facility.

Under the new approach, people who are infected with COVID-19 but present mild symptoms in hospitals and government-run isolation facilities will be allowed to leave after just seven days if they test negative on the seventh day and do not live with anyone in a high-risk group, such as senior citizens, pregnant women or immunosuppressed people.

Those who do not meet these criteria must complete the full 14-day isolation period or wait until they test negative, according to health officials.

Authorities reported 24 new deaths over the past week. The city's total infections now stand at 16,600, with 219 deaths. (AP)

Kerala registers 8,655 new COVID-19 cases, 319 deaths (PTI)

Japan announced on Thursday it will ease its tough COVID-19 border controls by increasing the number of people allowed to enter each day and reducing quarantine requirements following criticism that its current policy is unscientific and xenophobic.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the daily entry cap will be raised to 5,000, including Japanese citizens and foreign residents, from the current 3,500 beginning March 1.

The decision is good news for foreign scholars, exchange students, business travellers and technical internship workers who have been unable to enter, but does not cover tourists.

“It's not realistic to ease the measures all at once,” Kishida said. He said Japan will study when it can start allowing in foreign tourists while gradually expanding entries of non-tourists. He did not give a timeline.

He said quarantine requirements for entrants will be shortened to three days from the current seven, and those with proof of a negative COVID-19 test and a booster shot can skip self-isolation.

Japan has banned nearly all non-resident foreign entrants since early in the pandemic.

The country, which saw a significant decrease in infections in the fall, briefly announced an easing in November but quickly reversed that decision after the omicron variant emerged in other countries.

Kishida said Japan will decide on a further easing of border controls based on a scientific assessment of the omicron variant, infection levels in and outside Japan and quarantine measures taken by other countries.

Infection rates are stabilizing but not slowing fast enough, Kishida said.

“Now is the most difficult time to cope. I seek cooperation from everyone for just a little longer so we can overcome this difficulty,” he said.

Most of Japan is currently under virus-related restrictions. Infections only recently started to show signs of slowing, likely because of delayed booster shots.

Nationwide, Japan reported 91,006 new cases on Wednesday, down slightly from a week earlier, after cases exceeded 100,000 on February 5. (AP)

The Union health ministry on Thursday dismissed media reports based on a published research paper alleging that India's COVID-19 mortality count is much higher than the official figure, which is "fallacious and completely inaccurate".

The ministry said the country has a robust system of reporting deaths, including those caused by COVID-19, and the data is compiled regularly at different levels of governance, starting from the gram panchayat level to the district level and the state level.

"The reporting of deaths is regularly done in a transparent manner. All deaths are compiled by the Centre after being independently reported by states and UTs.

"To project that COVID deaths have been under-reported is without basis and devoid of justification," the ministry said in a statement.

There have been some media reports based on a published research paper alleging that the Covid mortality count in India is much higher than the official figure and the actual numbers have been undercounted, it said.

The study estimates that the Covid death toll in the country till early November 2021 was between 32 lakh and 37 lakh, as compared to the official figure of 4.6 lakh.

"As has been stated earlier for similar media reports, it is again clarified that these reports are fallacious and completely inaccurate. They are not based on facts and are speculative in nature," the statement issued by the ministry said.

Based on globally acceptable categorisation, the government has a comprehensive definition to classify Covid deaths, which has been shared with the states and the states are following it, the ministry added.

Furthermore, the government has been urging the states to update their mortality numbers in case certain deaths were not reported in time at the field level and hence, remains completely dedicated in getting the correct picture of the pandemic-related fatalities, it said. (PTI)