Coronavirus News Highlights: Eight more students test positive at Maharashtra school, tally now 90

Expanding India's vaccine basket, the Central Drug Authority has approved the Serum Institute of India's Covid-19 vaccine Covovax, Biological E's jab Corbevax and anti-Covid pill Molnupiravir for restricted use in an emergency situation. Meanwhile, Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O' Brien and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly tested positive for Covid-19. Come back tomorrow for live updates.

Eight more students test positive in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar school

Eight more students of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district have tested positive forCovid-19, taking the number of such cases at the institute to 90, a health department official said Tuesday.

Goa yet to take a call on night curfew, curbing celebrations

Goa CM Pramod Sawant said that no decision has been taken on night curfew yet even as the positivity rate of Covid-19 has increased. "However, we need to take a strict decision if the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase," he said.

143 crore doses of vaccines administered in India so far

Cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in India reaches 143 crore, says health ministry

MP logs 42 new cases, one death

The coronavirus tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 793,768 with the addition of 42 new cases on Tuesday, while one more patient succumbed to the infection in the state, health department officials said.

Gujarat sees 394 new cases, highest daily addition since June 14

Gujarat reported 394Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, its highest single-day addition since June 14, when the figure was 405, raising the state's tally to 829,957, an official said.

Delhi records 496 new cases, highest since June 4

The national capital has reported 496 new Covid-19 cases in a day, the highest since June 4, with the positivity rate rising to 0.89 per cent along with one fatality due to the infection, according to data shared by the health department here on Tuesday.

BMC issues curbs for Mumbai

Maharashtra logs over 2,000 new cases

The state reported 2,172 cases and 22 deaths, taking the respective tallies to 6,661,486 and 141,476, respectively, according to the Public Health Department.The financial capital of Mumbai reported 1,377 cases while the Mumbai metropolitan region logged 1,680 cases.

Seven more Omicron cases in Kerala takes tally to 64

411 challans issued for violating night curfew in Delhi on Day 1

More than 400 FIRs were registered and 754 challans issued for violations ofCovid-appropriate behaviour, including 411 pertaining to violation of night curfew, as the curbs kicked in across thenational capital amid rising cases of coronavirus infections, the Delhi Police said.

Omicron estimated to account for 58.6% of coronavirus variants in US: CDC

The Omicron variant was estimated to account for 58.6 per cent of the coronavirus variants circulating in the United States for the week ending December 25, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Delta variant accounts for 41.1 per centof all US Covid-19 cases, according to the public health agency's data on Tuesday.

The agency said the data includes modelled projections that may differ from weighted estimates generated at later dates.

13 students of a school test positive

13 students of a school in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh tested positive for Covid-19, said Medical Officer (Zonal Hospital) Bilaspur

Two in Puducherry test positive for Covid-19

Omicron infection was confirmed in two persons in Puducherry. An 80-year-old man and a 20-year-old man have been diagnosed with the variant, said G Sriramulu, Director Health, Puducherry UT.

Kerala logs 2,472 new cases, 38 deaths

Kerala reports 2,472 new cases, 38 deaths, and 3,052 recoveries over the past 24 hours. Active cases stood at 20,400. The death tally increased to 47,066 after 206 deaths were added as per the new guidelines of the Central government, Kerala govt said in an official statement.

(ANI)

Vaccination registration for 15-18 age group to start January 1; beneficiaries can also walk in, says Union Health Ministry

Malaysia lifts African travel ban, cuts booster wait amid Omicron fears

Malaysia has lifted a travel ban on eight southern African countries that had been among the first to report the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, citing the greater spread of the variant worldwide, its health minister said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, authorities said they would cut the wait time for booster vaccine doses amid concerns over the spread of Omicron, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters.

Personnel to be deployed in Election Duty in poll-bound States will also be included in the category of frontline workers (FLWs), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in an official statement.

(ANI)

All persons aged 60 years and above with co-morbidities will not be required to produce/submit any certificate from the doctor, at the time of administration of precaution dose: Union Health Ministry

Bikaner: A health worker collects swab samples of passengers for Covid-19 tests amid concern over rising Omicron cases, at the Railway Station in Bikaner, Tuesday, December 28, 2021.

(PTI Photo)

Omicron infection boosts neutralising immunity against Delta: Study

With an unpremeditated spike in Omicron cases worldwide, often coupled with infections caused by the Delta variant, a study led by an international team of researchers shows that the vaccine-evading newer variant enhances the neutralising immunity of the Delta variant.

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Omicron propels global Covid-19 tally to record high

The number of Covid-19 cases — propelled by the surge in the Omicron variant — hit 1.44 million over the past 24 hours, marking a new global high. The seven-day average of Covid cases was around 841,000 on Monday, a 49 per cent rise from November 24, when Omicron was first identified in Africa.

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Delhi Metro, restaurants, bars to operate at 50% capacity; cinema halls, spas, gyms to remain shut

Cinema halls, spas, gyms, multiplexes, banquet halls, auditoriums & sports complexes to be closed with immediate effect.

(ANI)

Why should Assembly elections be rescheduled? asks Kharge

Today there're only a few cases of Omicron. Is BJP conspiring to postpone elections? There're many speculations. Election Commission's credibility as an independent institution is suspicious nowadays as they attended a meeting called by PMO: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

(ANI)

As international tourism plummets, domestic tourists keep Goa afloat amid Omicron fears

Even as the tourism industry in Goa crosses its fingers over the increasing footprint of Omicron, both in India and the source market, Europe, industry stakeholders have demanded a more relaxed tax regime as well as streamlining of GST and tax structures for travel agents and tour operators.

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New Delhi: A health official takes swab sample of a man at a market for Covid-19 test, amid concern over rising Omicron cases, in New Delhi, Tuesday, December 28, 2021.

(PTI Photo)

Delhi's Omicron case tally rises to 165

Spain records highest-ever 14-day Covid incidence

The Spanish Ministry of Health said that the 14-day Covid-19 incidence has increased by 294 points in the four days from December 23 to 1,206.21 cases per 100,000 people after the Christmas holiday weekend.

This increase, which comes after the Ministry reported 214,619 new infections over the past four days, was the highest 14-day incidence ever recorded in Spain since the pandemic started in early 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

Covovax approval to strengthen immunisation efforts in India, lower & middle income countries: SII

Cipla receives DCGI EUA for its Covid drug Molnupiravir

Cipla Limited announced on Tuesday that it has been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) permission by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for the launch of Molnupiravir, an anti-viral drug to treat mild to moderate Covid-19.

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Sourav Ganguly, BCCI President, got admitted at Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital on Dec 27 with Covid status. He received monoclonal anti-body cocktail therapy and is currently stable: Dr Rupali Basu MD & CEO, Woodlands Hospital, Kolkata

(ANI)

We are 10 times more prepared than earlier to deal with rise in Covid cases in Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal

As the Covid-19 positivity rate has been above 0.5% for the past few days, we are enforcing Level-I (Yellow alert) of the Graded Response Action Plan. A detailed order on restrictions to be implemented will be released soon: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

'Yellow' Covid alert in Delhi; Kejriwal asks residents not worry about Omicron

Delhi Police on vigil to enforce night curfew

Sydney Ashes Test not at risk over Covid rules, says official

The "sacred" Ashes Test in Sydney will take place as scheduled next week even as Covid threatens to disrupt the series, the New South Wales health minister said on Tuesday.

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TMC MP Derek O'Brien tests positive for Covid-19

Police personnel check vehicles during night curfew imposed in the wake of rise in Covid-19 cases of Omicron variant, at Jungpura in New Delhi, Monday night, December 27, 2021.

(PTI Photo)

India approves anti-Covid pill, 2 new vaccines for emergency use

India on Tuesday granted approval to anti-Covid pill Molnupiravir, Serum Institute of India's Covid-19 vaccine Covovax and Biological E's vaccine Corbevax after an expert panel of the country's central drug authority recommended granting emergency use authorisation.

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At 167, Maharashtra tops India's tally of Omicron cases

India has logged 653 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 21 states and UTs so far out of which 186 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

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15 Omicron patients discharged in Karnataka; Health department treads cautiously

In a great relief to the Karnataka Health department, which is in a battle mode in taking preventive measures to ensure the new SARS-CoV2 variant Omicron doesn't spread across the state, as many as 15 students affected with the Omicron variant have fully recovered and been discharged from the designated hospitals. The data is confirmed by the Union Health ministry.

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Covid ex-gratia: Karnataka received 25,000 claims against 38,000-plus deaths

Out of 38,195 Covid deaths as on November 30 this year, Karnataka was able to elicit applications from the family members of only 25,601 (67%) for providing them with a compensation of Rs. 1.5 lakh (Rs. 1 lakh if BPL, 50,000 if APL).

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Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Eknath Gaikwad tests positive for Covid-19 with mild symptoms.

Second Covid wave, Omicron kept Maharashtra's health sector on tenterhooks in 2021

Maharashtra's health sector came under severe strain in 2021, as it faced the onslaught of the ferocious second wave of Covid-19 led by the Delta variant, reporting a record number of daily infections and deaths, and towards the year-end saw the emergence of a high number of Omicron cases.

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Night curfew in Bengaluru from today: Here's what is exempted

Amid fears of the Omicron variant spreading, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant issued prohibitory orders on Monday evening and vowed to curb non-essential travel during the night curfew hours.

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With the administration of 72,87,547 vaccine doses in the last 24 hrs, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeds 142.47 crore. The recovery rate of 98.40% is the highest since March 2020. Weekly positivity Rate at 0.64% remains less than 1% from last 44 days: Union Health Ministry

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly tests Covid positive, hospitalised

BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly has been admitted to hospital after he tested positive for Covid-19, news agencyPTIreported quotingBCCI sources.

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India recorded 6,358 fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, Union Health Ministry data showed. Meanwhile the country has recorded 653 Omicron infections so far.

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India's Omicron case tally rises to 653

Active caseload currently stands at 75,456. Recovery Rate currently at 98.40%

India reports 6,358 new Covid cases and 6,450 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to hold high-level review meeting today on Covid-19 situation

(ANI)

12 more Omicron cases reported in Telangana

Twelve more Omicron cases have been reported in Telangana, taking the total number of cases of the new coronavirus variant in the state to 55, the Health department said on Monday.

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No 'panic,' but Covid to 'overrun' some US hospitals: Biden

President Joe Biden on Monday said some US hospitals could be "overrun" by Covid cases, but the country is generally well prepared to meet the latest surge and Americans need not panic.

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New Delhi: Policemen patrol during the night curfew between 11 pm to 5 am imposed by the Delhi government to curb the spread of Covid-19, at Chandni Chowk in New Delhi, Monday, December 27, 2021.

PTI Photo

CDSCO panel recommends restricted emergency use of Covid-19 pill Molnupiravir

An expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Monday recommended granting permission to manufacture and market anti-Covid pill Molnupiravir for restricted emergency use for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in the country, official sources said.

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US halves isolation period for asymptomatic Covid patients to 5 days

US health authorities on Monday halved the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic Covid-19 infections from 10 to five days, with a surge of cases causing travel chaos and threatening wider social disruption.

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No special pass for night curfew, violators to face violators to face FIR: Kamal Pant

Anyone stepping out between 10 pm and 5 am from December 28 and January 7 without a bona fide reason will be booked and prosecuted, city police chief Kamal Pant warned on Monday.

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CDSCO panel recommends emergency use authorisation for Covovax, Corbevax Covid-19 vaccines

An expert panel of the country's central drug authority has recommended granting emergency use authorisation to Serum Institute of India's Covid-19 vaccine Covovax and Biological E's vaccine Corbevax with certain conditions, official sources said on Monday.

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