Coronavirus Updates: Maharashtra Reports 5,368 Cases, Delhi Sees 1,313 New Infections

More than 100 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday in Bihar where the daily rise in tally had, for months, been in double or even single digits. According to the health department, altogether 132 people have tested positive pushing the active caseload to 333, a nearly tenfold rise since a month ago when it stood around 35. No casualties have been reported in the last 24 hours in the state where altogether 12,096 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus. The total number of people afflicted since the pandemic struck in March last year is 7,26,738.

Kolkata’s tally of new COVID-19 infections more than doubled in 24 hours as the metropolis reported 1,090 cases on Thursday, as per the state Health Department. The city reported 540 new cases on Wednesday, it said. West Bengal registered more than 2,000 cases after nearly six months as the state reported 2,128 new infections. It was nearly double the cases reported on Wednesday when 1,089 infections were detected, and more than four times that reported on last Thursday — 516. The state’s positivity rate jumped to 5.47 per cent, from 2.84 per cent on Wednesday. West Bengal has so far reported 16,35,034 COVID-19 cases.

Delhi on Thursday recorded 1,313 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day rise since May 26, while the positivity rate mounted to 1.73 per cent, according to health department data. No fresh deaths were reported in the city. On May 26, the national capital had reported 1,491 cases with a positivity rate of 1.93 per cent and 130 deaths. On Wednesday, 923 cases were recorded in the city with a positivity rate of 1.29 per cent. The positivity rate breached the one per cent-mark after a gap of seven months.

Haryana reported 23 more cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus on Thursday, its highest daily spike so far, pushing the tally of such cases to 37 in the state, according to a health department bulletin. Of these 37 cases, 12 are active while the rest have been discharged, it stated. In view of a rise in Omicron cases, the Haryana government has imposed a night curfew and restriction on gatherings from Saturday. It said people eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated will be banned from shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places from January 1.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 144.45 crore on Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said. More than 59 lakh doses were administered in the day till 7 pm, it said. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of final reports for the day by late night, the ministry said. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2.

The new wave of the coronavirus pandemic could be worse than the earlier two waves, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said while appealing people to follow the norms. The new wave could be more terrible, therefore Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself was issuing alerts to the states, Pednekar told reporters here. Earlier variants of the coronavirus infected mostly adults, but the latest variant is also infecting children, she said. “Hence it is necessary to be careful, she added. Appealing people to follow COVID-19-appropriate behavior, Pednekar said she herself would be avoiding weddings and other gatherings till the Omicron crisis recedes.

Maharashtra on Thursday reported 198 new cases of the Omicron variant, including 190 in Mumbai alone, the state health department said in a release. The tally of cases of this latest coronavirus variant in the state went up to 450. A 52-year-old man with a travel history to Nigeria who died of a heart attack on December 28 tested positive for Omicron, but the death had nothing to do with the infection, the release said.The patient had been admitted to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s Yashwantrao Chavan Hospital. He also had diabetes for the last 13 years, it said.

Delhi on Thursday reported 1,313 fresh Covid-19 cases and 423 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate is at 1.73%. The active cases are at 3,081 while the total recoveries are at 14,18,227.

Karnataka has recorded 707 new Covid-19 cases, out of which 565 infections have been reported from Bengaluru Urban. The state’s tally has nearly doubled in two days. The state had recorded 356 cases on Wednesday.

The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 7,93,888 on Thursday with the addition of 72 cases, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,533 as no fatality was reported, an official said. With 19 patients recuperating and getting discharged from hospitals during the day, the recovery count in the state stood at 7,82,995.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra is concerning. He said that he discussed with the State Task Force on the additional restrictions that needed to be enforced. “Feel Some additional restrictions in the state are needed. CM Uddhav Thackeray will take a call on further restrictions in the next two days,” he said.

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Seven European nations, including the Netherlands, Italy and Spain, have barred Turkish passengers from entering their countries as the Omicron variant spreads, according to travel guidance by Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authority (SHGM). Daily coronavirus cases in Turkey have reached their highest level since April this week, surging to nearly 37,000, but the number is still significantly below figures reported in parts of Europe.

Mumbai has reported 3,671 fresh Covid-19 cases and 371 recoveries today, taking active cases to 11,360. Out of the total cases in the city, Dharavi has recorded 20 cases, the highest since May 18.

The Goa government on Thursday received the first consignment of Covaxin doses to inoculate over 74,000 children in the age group of 15 to 18 years against COVID-19. Talking to PTI, state immunisation officer Dr Rajendra Borkar said the first lot of 74,200 Covaxin doses arrived in the state during the day. The vaccines will be administered to children between 15 and 18 years of age from January 3, the official said. In order to cover maximum number of children, the state education department has been roped in to ensure that children are administered the vaccine on campuses of educational institutions, he said.

West Bengal reports 2,128 fresh COVID cases, 1,067 recoveries, and 12 deaths today

Active cases: 8,776 Total recoveries: 16,06,501 Death toll: 19,757

Kerala on Thursday logged 2,423 new COVID-19 infections and 164 deaths, which took the caseload to 52,32,672 and the fatalities to 47,441 till date. Of the 164 deaths, 15 were recorded over the last few days and 149 designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court. With 2,879 more people recovering from the virus since Wednesday, the total recoveries reached 51,76,535 and the active cases dropped to 19,835, an official press release said. As many as 58,459 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

Bharat Biotech says its Covaxin has proven to be safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic in children volunteers aged between 2-18 years in phase II and III study.

Dr VK Paul was asked on the election rallies currently going on in poll-bound states where politicians could be seen flouting Covid appropriate behaviour and not wearing masks, to which he replied that the framework of responsibilities to supress transmission applies to everyone. “I have explained to you the framework of responsibilities of the people, expectations from all of us for ensuring suppression of chain of transmission as well as protection. That applies to all of us,” Dr VK Paul said.

Gujarat government has anounced extending Covid-19 restrictions from Dec 31 to Jan 7, State Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said.