Coronavirus Omicron variant India live updates: At 678, India sees 3rd wave’s highest daily toll

At 678, India sees 3rd wave’s highest daily toll

India continued to report a gradual rise in Covid-19 fatalities, with 678 deaths reported on Friday, the highest in the third wave, even as fresh cases declined steeply for the second day running. India reported just over 1. 28 lakh new cases on Friday,

Covid funeral SOP for Parsis gets Supreme Court approval

The Supreme Court on Friday approved the standard operating procedure agreed upon by the Centre and the Parsi community that would allow for traditional burial of Parsi Zoroastrian Covid-19 victims, and, address the concern of the government about containing the spread of the virus.

Drivers travelling alone in cars won't be fined for not wearing masks: Delhi health department

The Delhi health department in a late night order on Friday said drivers travelling alone in cars will not be penalised for not wearing face masks. Earlier in the day, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), at a meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, decided to exempt lone occupants of a vehicle from wearing face masks.The Delhi Epidemic Diseases, (Management of Covid-19) Regulations, 2020 was issued through a notification by the DDMA in 2020.

Nearly 169 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses administered so far in India. More than 42 lakh vaccine doses administered today till 7 pm: Union health ministry

Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI) Subject Expert Committee (SEC) recommends Russia's Sputnik Light one-shot Covid-19 vaccine: Sources

Omicron variant behind Mizoram's Covid spike which bucks national trend: Experts

Experts in Mizoram believe that spread of the Omicron variant is behind the rapidly rising number of cases of COVID-19 in the state even though this is yet to be confirmed by genome sequencing.State nodal officer for Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and official spokesperson on COVID-19, Dr. Pachuau Lalmalsawma, said that Omicron variant could be the reason for the high infection rate in Mizoram although genome sequencing to prove that Omicron variant has spread to this hilly border state is still awaited.“Our main suspect behind the rapid increase in COVID-19 case is Omicron, as most patients developed symptoms of the new variant,” he told PTI.

Omicron variant is the dominant variant in the country presently. Whole genome sequencing for Omicron variant is done for all RTPCR positive samples from international travellers arriving since November 28, 2021.

Further, for in-country sequencing RT-PCR positive samples having CT-value of less than 25 are referred from sentinel sites in various states regularly, Mandaviya said.

The tracker depicts vaccine effectiveness against death -- the ability of vaccines to reduce death -- using person time analysis from April 12, 2021 to January 2, 2022.

Maharashtra reported 13,840 new cases, 27,891 recoveries, and 81 deaths, in the last 24 hours.

No new case of Omicron today.

As many as 30,111 children were orphaned, lost a parent, or abandoned due to Covid-19 or other reasons from April 2020 to June 5, 2021, the government said on Friday. Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said a total of 26,176 children have lost a parent, 3,661 were orphaned and 274 abandoned during the period.

Karnataka reports 14,950 new Covid-19 cases, 40,599 recoveries, and 53 deaths in the last 24 hours. Active cases at 1,23,098

Positivity rate in Bengaluru falls to a single digit (9.17%) & daily new cases have fallen by 80% in Bengaluru

Gujarat reports 6,097 new Covid-19 cases, 12,105 recoveries, and 35 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Tamil Nadu reports 9,916 new Covid-19 cases, 21,435 recoveries, and 30 deaths, in the last 24 hours.

Active cases 1,55,329

Delhi reports 2,272 new cases, 20 fatalities and 4,166 recoveries in the last 24 hours; Active cases stand at 11,716

Vaccine effectiveness of 99.3% seen in individuals fully inoculated against Covid: Mandaviya

Vaccine effectiveness of 99.3 per cent has been seen in individuals fully inoculated against coronavirus according to the data uploaded on India COVID-19 Tracker till January 2, the Lok Sabha was told on Friday.Responding to a question, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has developed the India COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker, by merging mainly three national databases -- CoWIN, National COVID-19 Testing database and COVID-19 India portal.

Karnataka govt eases Covid-19 restrictions in the state

Gyms, Cinema halls, swimming pools & Yoga centres have been allowed to function with 100% capacity with strictly adhering to Covid appropriate behaviour and guidelines, reads the order.

Kerala records 38,684 fresh Covid-19 cases, 595 deaths

Daily COVID-19 cases in Kerala further decreased on Friday with the state recording 38,684 fresh infections which raised the total caseload to 62,11,116.The southern state had reported 42,677 COVID-19 cases on Thursday.Kerala on Friday also reported 595 deaths which raised the total fatalities in Kerala to 57,296, according to a government release.

Repeated seasonal vaccines provides better protection to kids against future flu pandemics, says study

Covid-19: Local train travel curbs in place as govt has responsibility to see people don't die, Maha tells HC

Justifying the restrictions imposed on local train travel in Mumbai amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Friday that, as a welfare state, it had a responsibility to ensure its citizens "did not die."Senior advocate Anil Anturkar told a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik that the Maharashtra government had prohibited unvaccinated persons from traveling on local trains in the city to check the spread of COVID-19.