Coronavirus highlights: Maharashtra's positivity rate remains above 10% as state logs 796 new cases

Over 15.79 lakh people were vaccinated against Covid-19 during a mega campaign organised by the Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday, an official said Thursday.

. Maharashtra Chief Secretary Debashish Chakravarty on Thursday said the state government was considering a revision of its air travel guidelines, a day after the Centre wrote to the state saying its order was in divergence with the Covid-19 SoPs and guidelines issued by the Union government

. The six "ultra-risk" countriesare South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lasotho, Zimbabwe and Eswatini.

. British regulators on Thursday approved GlaxoSmithKline drug sotrovimab to treat those at high risk of developing severe Covid-19 symptoms, with the manufacturer saying it "retains activity" against the new Omicron variant.

. UAE has reported its first case of Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus, on Wednesday. The the country’s Ministry of Health and Prevention has urged all residents to get vaccine booster shots.

. In view of the Omicron threat, the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public health and Preventive medicine has written to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) that passengers arriving at the four international airports in the state follow the guidelines onon vaccines provided by the department.

. In response to the emergence of the Omicron variant , the Uttar Pradesh government has established new guidelines. "All travellers coming to UP will go through thermal scanning; any Covid positive traveller will be isolated. Every district's railway and bus station will have a medical team for Covidsampling," the state government ordered

. The official Instagram handle of the Mumbai Police has shared a Bollywood reference yet again to create awareness about Covid protocols.

. It has been our effort over the last 6 months to slowly increase flights, internationally as well...Omicron is a setback as all countries across the world need to be safe. Our government has categorised 11 countries as 'at risk' -Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Lok Sabha.

. Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister, is reportedly conducting a virtual meeting with state representative to discuss mounting worries over the Omicron version of Covid-19.

. According to scientists, it will take weeks of testing to determine what additional superpowers these mutations confer on omicron, if any.

Researchers will examine what's going on in the real world by testing samples collected from patients, sequencing their genomes to check if omicron is to blame for the infections, and seeing if more and more samples turn out to be positive.

Read More: Mysteries of Omicron variant could take weeks to untangle

. India’s Cumulative Covid-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 124.96 Cr (1,24,96,19,515). More than 80.35 Lakh doses were administered in last 24 hours.

. In a partial reversal of a decision issued a day earlier on worries about the Omicron variant, Japan has scrapped a plan to put a blanket halt to all new inbound flight reservations.

. Serum Institute of India has sought the drug regulator's approval to administer Covishield as a booster dose, citing adequate stock of the vaccine in the country and the demand for a booster shot due to the emergence of Omicron coronavirus variant.

. Travelers from nations that aren't classified as 'at risk' will be randomly sampled. The entire region is sanitised on a regular basis: Tiruchirappalli International Airport Director S. Dharmaraj

. Health experts told parliament on Wednesday that the Omicron variety has caused a substantial increase in coronavirus cases in South Africa in recent weeks, calling the situation "worrying." According to Michelle Groome of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, there has been a "exponential spike" in the previous two weeks, from a weekly average of roughly 300 new cases per day to 1,000 last week and 3,500 most recently.

. India on Thursday reported 9,765 fresh Covid-19 cases and 477 deaths linked to the virus in the last 24 hours, according to Union Health MInistry.

. The WHO issued stern warnings Wednesday on the dangers of vaccination apathy and the European Union put mandatory jabs on the table, as the United States registered its first case of the fast-spreading Omicron strain of the coronavirus.

. News of the Omicron variant has been creating long lines of people queuing up to get the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

. Ireland has detected its first case of theOmicroncoronavirus variant, said the country's Department of Health. The case is associated with travel from one of the southern African countries that have been declared by the Irish government as high-risk countries for the spread of the new variant.

. The Omicron strain could most likely displace the Delta variant as the dominant strain of coronavirus, says Adrian Puren, acting executive director of South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

. Six Covid-19 cases were reported on Wednesday among 3,476 passengers in 11 flights from "at-risk" countries and the samples have been sent for genomic sequencing, the Health Ministry said amid concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus. The flights landed across the country, between midnight and 4 pm on Wednesday.

. In the wake of new Covid-19 worries, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Wednesday that the state government plans to give booster vaccination doses to health and front-line workers, and that he will discuss the matter with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

. (Reuters)

. Tourism businesses that were just finding their footing after nearly two years of devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic are being rattled again as countries throw up new barriers to travel in an effort to contain the omicron variant.

. Chaos and confusion reigned at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here on Wednesday, the first day of the union government’s revised guidelines for inbound overseas passengers.

. The United States on Wednesday announced its first confirmed case of the Covid-19 Omicron variant had been detected in California, in a fully vaccinated traveller who had recently returned from South Africa and was recovering from mild symptoms.

Coronavirus highlights: Maharashtra's positivity rate remains above 10% as state logs 796 new cases

Three out of 861 passengers positive for Covid-19 in Maharashtra; samples sent for sequencing

Maharashtra reports 796 new Covid-19 cases, positivity rate remains above 10%

Maharashtra issues new guidelines for air travel; mandates institutional quarantine for passengers from high-risk countries

Two foreign nationals with Omicron variant showing mild symptoms

Prepared to tackle Omicron variant: CM Bommai

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