Coronavirus News Highlights: Maharashtra logs 26 new Omicron cases; total of 1,426 new cases

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will conduct a meeting with states and UTs' chief secretaries and medical officers on vaccination of 15-18 years olds and precaution dose to healthcare, frontline workers and seniors above 60 with comorbidities at 11.30 am on Tuesday.

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. India reported over 150 fresh Omicron infections with Goa and Manipur on Monday registering their first cases as the total tally of the latest variant ofCovid-19 touched nearly 600.According to Union Health Ministry data updated in the morning, 156 fresh cases of Omicron were logged, taking the tally of such cases to 578. However, 151 out of the 578 people, who contracted the infection, have recovered or migrated.

. A record 103 positiveCovid-19 cases were found among players and staff in the Premier League over the past week, the league said on Monday following a raft of fixture postponements during the busy festive period.

. Goa'sCovid-19 tally reached 180,117 on Monday after 67 cases were detected, while the death toll remained unchanged at 3,519, an official said.

. TheCovid-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 793,726, with the detection of 30 new cases on Monday, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,532, an official said.

. Maharashtra reported 1,426 new Covid-19 cases and 21 deaths over the past 24 hours. Of the 26 new Omicron cases, 11 were from Mumbai and 4 from Thane MC.

. Karnataka logged 289 cases ofCovid-19 and four deaths on Monday, taking the total number of infections to 3,004,876 and the toll to 38,316.

. In view of the emergence of the Omicron cases, the Haryana government has already imposed a night curfew and restrictions on gatherings from Saturday. It has also said people eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated will be banned from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places, from January 1.

Meanwhile, the state reported 85 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, with Gurugram accounting for 61, the health bulletin said.

. Twenty-eight more students and three staff members of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district have tested positive forCovid-19, taking the number of such cases at the institute to 82 in the past week, a health department official said.

. Andhra Pradesh on Monday reported 54 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest ever during the second wave, taking the cumulative infections to 2,076,546, while the toll remained at 14,490.

. With the active cases past the 10,000-mark, the chief minister is chairing a cabinet meeting to discuss the developing situation.

. Mumbai reported 809 new cases, 335 recoveries and 3 deaths over the past 24 hours. Active cases at 4,765.

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. The state government announced an indefinite night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am.

. The Kerala government has imposed a night curfew from December 30 to January 2 in view of Covid-19 Omicron variant. The restrictions will be from 10 pm to 5 am.

. Britain's early deployment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to protect against Covid-19 may be responsible for the country's lower death rates than other European countries, a UK vaccines expert said.UK has 1.7 daily deaths from Covid-19 per million people, while the rate in EU is almost 4.

. Ladakh has reported 8 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 22,091, of which 20,664 people have recuperated from the disease, while the active cases in the union territory have gone down to 209, officials said.

. Delhi reported 331 new Covid-19 cases, the highest daily count since June 9, and one death. The positivity rate increased to 0.68 per cent,authorities said.

. A 48-year-old man from Manipur has tested positive for Omicron, becoming the first case of the new Covid-19 variant in the northeast, a health official said on Monday.

Khoirom Sasbeekumar Mangang, Additional Director of the state's Health and Family Welfare Department, said the man from Imphal West had recently visited Tanzania.

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. After lack of access to adequate doses, many poor countries are now facing vaccine resistance, which according to scientists could be a source of new variants, such as Omicron, Nature reported.

"When you have a lot of community transmission, that's where variants will emerge," Jeffrey Lazarus, a global health researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain, was quoted as saying.

. Covid-19 vaccination for about 25.53 lakh children between 15 and 18 years age group in Odisha will start from January 3, 2022, officials said here on Monday.

As per Prime Minister's announcement, vaccination programmes for 15-18 years population, precaution doses for healthcare &amp; frontline workers and above 60 years with comorbidities or other health problems will start in the state next month, said director health and family welfare, Bijay Panigrahi.

. With the "distinct presence" of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and "detection" of Omicron variant in at least 19 states and union territories, the Centre on Monday asked states not to let the guard down while advising them to consider imposing need-based local curbs or restrictions to control the crowd during festival season.

. A day after the city saw huge crowds of mid-night revellers thronging the eastern metropolis' busy Park Street to celebrate Christmas, health experts and doctors cautioned the state government against allowing more such gatherings, especially during the New Year festivities, pointing to the rising number of Covid cases in the country and emergent threat from a more virulent Omicron strain.

Experts pointed out that the state authorities which had earned kudos for managing crowds during Durga Puja two months back, should not have relaxed their guard during the Christmas festival which is also a popular festive occasion given the fact that people are suffering from "Covid fatigue" and were likely to dispel with safety norms.

. BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Monday cited a Centre's note to criticise the decision of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, to impose night curfew to curb Covid, and said it should be decided if our priority is to contain the disease or to indulge in a show of strength during elections.

Policymakers should lead from the front so as inspire the common public to stay at home, he said.

Criticising the night curfew decision, he said, "Imposing curfew in night after assembling lakhs of people for rallies in the day defies the common man's wisdom".

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. A handful of Myanmar nurses hiding from the junta have been running makeshift clinics to treat Covid patients and resistance fighters with medicine smuggled past military checkpoints.

. Kerala has again emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall health performance among larger states, while Uttar Pradesh is the worst, according to the fourth Health Index launched by Niti Aayog.

. Co-WIN application chief RS Sharma on Monday said that the process to register on the Co-WIN platform for the precaution dose of Covid would be the same as for the other doses of the vaccine.

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. Rwanda has achieved the World Health Organization's (WHO) target of vaccinating 40 per cent of its entire population by December 2021, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

According to the Ministry, as of December 24, a total of 7,556,466 of the targeted Rwandan population aged over 12, have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 5,313,421 were fully inoculated.

. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged Cricket Australia (CA) to host the fourth, and possibly the fifth Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), given the evolving Covid-19 situation in the country.

On Monday, two England cricket team support staff and two of their family members tested Covid-positive, leading to a panic situation with the entire touring party undergoing Rapid Antigen Tests and the proceeding on Day 2 of the third Ashes Test getting delayed by half an hour.

. We've added an additional (10th) ID card for registration - the student ID card because some might not have Aadhaar or other identity cards: Dr RS Sharma, Co-WIN platform Chief

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. Night curfew will be imposed in Delhi from 11 pm on Monday, restricting movement of individuals except those in exempted categories, due to rising Covid-19 cases and the threat posed by Omicron, according to a DDMA order.

. 35 people including police personnel and government employees test positive for Covid-19 during the RT-PCR testing of 2,300 people conducted in the last 2 days during the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly: Vidhan Bhavan

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. Two years in, as the now Omicron-fuelled Covid crisis rages, there is still hope the pandemic could begin fading in 2022 -- though experts say gaping vaccine inequalities must be addressed.

. Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley moved to allay fears Monday over the remainder of the Ashes series after England were rocked by a Covid scare, but admitted it was a "day-by-day proposition".

. India on Monday reported 6,531 new coronavirus cases. 315 fatalities were recorded over the past 24 hours, data from the Union Health Ministry showed.

. The Election Commission will convene a meeting with senior officials of the Union Health Ministry on Monday to discuss the current Covid situation in the five poll-bound states, sources said.

. England was rocked by a majorCovidscare ahead of day two of the third Ashes Test Monday with four members of the team camp -- two support staff and two family members -- testing positive for coronavirus.

The team and management were forced to undergo urgent rapid antigen tests just as they were about to leave their hotel for the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

They were given the all-clear barely 45 minutes before play was due to begin, with the start pushed back half an hour until 11am (0530 IST) to give them a chance to warm-up.

. US authorities on Sunday were monitoring dozens of cruise ships hit byCovid-19 cases, with several reportedly denied port in the Caribbean.

Over 60 vessels were under observation after "reported cases ofCovid-19 have met the threshold for CDC investigation," the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on Covid-19 shots for the adolescents aged 15-18 years, senior doctors and public health officials on Sunday wondered if the decision was taken due to “political considerations” as there were barely any scientific evidence favouring jabs for such an age group.