Coronavirus in India Updates: Health Ministry briefs on COVID situation in India

Delhi has reported 27,561 fresh COVID cases in the last 24 hours, the highest number of cases in a single day in the past eight months. 

Kerala has reported 12,742 new COVID cases with 2552 recoveries, and 23 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Tamil Nadu has reported 17,934 new COVID cases with 4,039 recoveries, and 19 deaths in the last 24 hours.

"98 police personnel tested positive for COVID yesterday, January 11. Total 126 personnel died so far Active cases 741", Mumbai Police informed. 

Maharashtra has reported 46,723 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours. Also, 86 patients with Omicron infection have been reported in the state. 

West Bengal has registered 22,155 fresh COVID cases and 23 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Karnataka has reported 21,390 new COVID cases with 1541 recoveries and 10 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Mumbai has reported 16,420 new COVID cases with 14,649 recoveries and 7 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported 1,695 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours.

According to the Health Department, Odisha has registered 67 new cases of Omicron, the highest so far, taking the state's tally to 170. 

"All symptomatic individuals need to be tested including all high-risk case contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases... Asymptomatic cases are not required to get tested unless they're at high risk. Home quarantine for all contacts for 7 days", Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR, informed. 

"Booster dose of vaccine, COVAXIN (BBV152), generated robust neutralizing antibody responses against both Omicron (B.1.529) and Delta (B.1.617.2) using a live virus neutralization assay", Bharat Biotech informed. 

O"micron is not common cold, it's our responsibility to slow it down. Let's #MaskUp and get vaccinated, whoever is due. It's fact they (vaccines) are helpful to an extent. Vaccination critical pillar of our COVID response", said, Niti Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul.

"After a review meeting by PM over COVID situation, we have revised our discharge policy with severity categorised into mild and moderate cases", Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said. 

According to the Health Ministry, the emerging states of concern (reporting surge in COVID cases) are Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Gujarat. 

"A sharp surge in COVID cases has been observed in India. Currently, active cases are at 9,55,319 as of Jan 12. A high surge in COVID cases is noticed globally in159 countries of which eight countries in Europe are reporting an increase of cases by more than 2 times in the last two weeks", Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, informed. 

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting over the COVID situation with the Regional Director of Directorate General of Health Services, National Centre for Disease Control officers, Dy Director DCGI, Regional Head of ICMR & FSSAI in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. 

"18 people including staff, faculty & students of IIT, Jammu test positive for COVID-19. IIT to conduct online classes, faculty to work from home", informed, IIT Jammu administration. 

Punjab's former Chief Minister and Punjab Lok Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh tested positive for COVID-19. According to the statement by Captain's media advisor, Amarinder Singh has mild symptoms and he 'should be out of isolation in the next couple of days.' Captain Amarinder Singh has isolated himself and he is recovering well, informed Captain's media advisor. 

As Maharashtra continues to report a serious surge in COVID-19 cases, new timings have been issued for hearing by the principal bench of the Bombay High Court. As per a communication issued by the Bombay Bar Council on Monday, January 10, the principal bench of the Bombay High Court will operate only for 3 hours on all the working days which began from Tuesday, January 11 and will hear only urgent matters till January 28, 2022. 

Amid the surge cases in COVID-19 cases in the country, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has now written to chief secretaries of all states and Union territories alerting them of the situation. In his letter, Bhushan urged the administrations to take immediate measures to ensure optimal availability of medical oxygen at health facilities. His letter comes amid rising concern over hospitalizations caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar, who was hospitalised after contracting COVID-19 continues to be in the ICU ward. Dr Pratit Samdhani who is treating the 92-year-old singer told ANI that she will be kept under observation for 10-12 days. He further shared that apart from COVID, she is also suffering from pneumonia.

The singer is currently being treated in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has stated that two doses of the company's vaccine may not give adequate protection against infection by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and that the initial shots have lost some of their efficacy in avoiding hospitalization.

Bourla stressed the significance of booster shot to increase the protection of people against Omicron, according to CNBC. He stated that for Omicron, the two doses aren't enough and that the current vaccine's third dose offers reasonable protection against hospitalizations and good protection against deaths.

The COVID-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 8,289 on Wednesday as 43 more people tested positive for the infection, 53 less than the previous day, a health bulletin said. Sixteen new patients have travel history, while 27 infections were detected during contact tracing, it said.

The United States on Monday witnessed a record high number of hospitalisations from COVID-19, surpassing last winter's peak over the weekend. In addition, the country also crossed another grim milestone amid escalating tensions over infections from the new COVID-19 strain, Omicron, after it clocked 1.5 million cases in a single day.

Mizoram reported 880 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which was 633 less than the previous day, a health official said. On Tuesday, the state had reported 1,513 cases, the highest single-day rise in three months. The death toll rose to 564 as two more persons died in the last 24 hours, the official said.

Mizoram has so far reported 1,48,438 COVID-19 cases, he said.

The Gujarat government implemented new limitations in the state. All public functions and meetings in the state, such as political, social, educational, cultural, and religious programs, will be limited to 150 people. Marriages in closed areas will be limited to 50% of the venue capacity, with a 150-person limit still in effect. However, the limits will last until January 22 at 6 am.

Omicron is quickly overtaking the Delta variant of COVID-19 and becoming dominant around the world, a senior WHO official has warned, with the global health agency cautioning that there is "increasing evidence" Omicron is able to evade immunity but has less disease severity as compared to other variants.

It could take some time for Omicron to overtake Delta in some countries because it depends on the level of circulation of the Delta variant in those countries, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and COVID-19 Technical Lead at the World Health Organisation (WHO) Maria Van Kerkhove said on Tuesday.

Mizoram reported 880 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which was 633 less than the previous day, a health official said. On Tuesday, the state had reported 1,513 cases, the highest single-day rise in three months.

The death toll rose to 564 as two more persons died in the last 24 hours, the official said. Mizoram has so far reported 1,48,438 COVID-19 cases, he said

India added 1,94,720 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,60,70,510 which includes 4,868 cases of Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The active cases increased to 9,55,319, the highest in 211 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. Of the total 4,868 cases of Omicron variant, 1,805 have recovered or migrated so far. 

Considering the current pandemic situation, the Maharashtra governed has issued a new order for staggered shift timings for Mantralaya staff.  According to the latest order, Maharashtra Mantralay staff will work in two shifts at a 50:50 ratio. 

The shift timings are: 9 am to 3 pm & 1 pm to 7 pm

Following the footsteps of the recently issued ICMR guidelines, Dr Puneet Misra, Professor of Community Medicine at AIIMS Delhi has asserted that there is no need for unnecessary testing for asymptomatic individuals in a community setting and further welcomed the revised guidelines by the Indian Council of Medical Research. While speaking to ANI, Dr Misra said that the revised ICMR guidelines for Covid testing are a "welcome step".

A senior Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer informed news agency ANI on Monday that a total of 931 active COVID-19 cases across all formations have been identified amongst their personnel. The affected officers have been directed by the Central agency to be confined to their respective houses and be in quarantine. Additionally, the security personnel have also been advised to admit themselves at a COVID care unit, the officer informed.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is on track to infect more than half of Europeans, but it should not yet be seen as a flu-like endemic illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Europe saw more than 7 million newly-reported cases in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period, WHO's Europe director Hans Kluge told a news briefing.

At least 481 resident doctors have tested COVID positive in Maharashtra so far, said Dr Avinash Dahiphale, president, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors

At least 19 staff of a police station in Vrindavan including its SHO have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, as the district reported 319 new infections. COVID-19 is spreading its wings here, said Dr. Bhudeo Singh, In-charge, Rapid Response team.

Vrindavan Kotwali Station House Officer Ajai Kaushal and 18 other staff of the police station were found infected with the virus, he said.

About half a dozen people shouted slogans after Swami Prasad Maurya's exit from BJP and joins SP. When the video went viral on social media, the police registered a case, in violation of Section 144 and COVID Guidelines. Raniganj police registered a case on the orders of SP Satpal Antil.

As the surge in cases of the new variant of COVID-19 Omicron has become a huge concern around the country, people who were not vaccinated earlier are being inoculated against the infection. Last week it was announced that Lakshadweep will start vaccinating all eligible children who are aged 15 to 18 years old and now after eight days on January 11, it has accomplished that goal making it the first Union Territory to do so, informed Lakshadweep's District Collector and Secretary, Asker Ali.