Coronavirus News Highlights: Omicron to be less severe among young and old people, not mild, says WHO

India on Thursday saw the biggest single-day jump of 495 Omicron cases, taking the total number of infections of the new variant of coronavirus to 2,630. Of the total cases, Maharashtra has the maximum at 797. The country reported 90,928 fresh coronavirus infections, the highest in over 200 days, that pushed its caseload to 3,51,09,286. Stay tuned for updates

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Omicron may be less severe in young and old, but not 'mild': WHO

The more infectious Omicron variant of Covid-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as "mild", World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday.

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Chandigarh announces night curfew, imposes other restrictions

Mahesh Babu tests Covid-positive with mild symptoms

Karnataka likely to relax Covid restrictions in places with less positivity rate, after review next week

With plans to relaxCovid restrictions at places with less positivity rate, the Karnataka government is likely to review the containment measures announced by it effective across the state, next week, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said on Thursday.

At the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today, some Ministers expressed reservation about enforcing restrictions across the state, especially in places where the positivity rate is low.

36,265 new cases in Maharashtra

Record 20,181 new Covid-19 cases, 85% asymptomatic

Record 107 new cases in Mumbai's Dharavi

Mumbai's Dharavi reports 107 new COVID19 infections, the highest ever spike in a day; Case tally at 7,626: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (ANI)

Christmas, New Year booking cancellations result in Rs 200 crore loss for hospitality sector

Booking cancellations for Christmas and New Year celebrations, along with those of weddings and planned events, due to a surge in Covid-19 cases have so far resulted in a loss of around Rs 200 crore in the hospitality industry, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said on Thursday.

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Puducherry restricts malls, markets, public transport to 50% capacity till Jan 31

Karnataka sees 5,031 new cases; 4,324 in Bengaluru

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot tests Covid-positive, says facing very mild symptoms

55,979 teens vaccinated in Delhi as of 5:30 pm

Delhi logs 15,097 new Covid-19 cases, 6 deaths

SAI mandates RATs for all athletes arriving at training centres

Sports Authority of India issues fresh SOPs to combat rising Covid cases. Upon arrival to the training centres, all athletes will undergo mandatory Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). Measures to be implemented at the various National Centres of Excellence, ongoing national coaching camps (ANI)

Delhi HC dismisses plea by candidates to postpone Civil Services (Mains) Examination 2021 till Covid situation normalises

Delhi High Court dismisses plea of several candidates seeking direction to postpone the schedule of Civil Services (Mains) Examination 2021 till the COVID-19 situation normalises. (ANI)

Bengal's daily cases rise to 14,022; CM Mamata to attend virtual meet with PM tomorrow

Third wave of Covid-19 to pose risk to asset quality of banks: Report

The threat of third wave of Covid-19 poses high risks to banks asset quality, especially the restructured loan book, according to a report by domestic rating agency ICRA.

Besides bad loans, lenders are likely to see challenges on profitability and solvency fronts due to the disruption caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the agency said.

It also sees a 15-20-basis point uptick in restructuring requests from the borrowers.

The agency's Vice-President (Financial Sector Ratings) Anil Gupta said, "With the increased spread of the new Covid-19 variant, i.e. Omicron, there is a high possibility of the occurrence of a third wave."

Punjab | 125 passengers of Air India's Italy-Amritsar flight have tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival at Amritsar airport,Airport Director V K Seth told ANI.

Covid-19 surge: Vibrant Gujarat Summit postponed

Gujarat on Thursday decided to postpone the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, that was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 10, in the wake of a spike in Covid-19 cases, according to the Chief Minister's Office. The three-day summit was to be held in a big way to attract investmentsand delegations from many partner countries and CEOs of top companies were supposed to participate in the event.

Maharashtra is not considering lockdown in the state as of now even as it continues to be among the worst-hit states in India, the state health department stated. "The government will consider a lockdown or lockdown-like restrictions after medical oxygen demand for the state goes beyond 800 metric tonnes perday or more than 40 per centof Covid beds in hospitals are occupied."

Mumbai: In the last 24 hours,71 Mumbai Police personnel tested positive for Covid-19, taking active cases in the force to 265

Puducherry sees jump in new Covid-19 cases; 129 fresh infections take tally to 1,29,821

The union territory of Puducherry witnessed a jump in the number of fresh coronavirus cases with 129 being added in the last 24 hours, a senior Health department official said on Thursday. The union territory had clocked 73 new infections on Wednesday and 66 on Tuesday.

The 129 new cases in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM on Thursday pushed the overall tally to 1,29, 821, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services G Sriramulu said in a release.

BMC has issuedguidelines for private hospitals and nursing homes in wake of the Omicron outbreak.All private hospitals and nursing homes will beef up bed strength to peak level capacity.

MoS Health Bharati Pawar tests positive for Covid-19

Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar on Thursday said she has tested positive for Covid-19.

She appealed to people who came in contact with her recently to get themselves tested.

"Today my Covid-19 test report has come positive and I have quarantined myself at home. I request all those who came in contact with me in the last few days to get their Covid test done and follow the rules for the prevention of coronavirus infection," Pawar said in a tweet in Hindi.

Maharashtra Health Department has stopped genome sequencing of Covid samples after 55 per centof the samples in last genome sequencing were confirmed for Omicron variant. Order for fresh sero survey is expected this week

Messi tests negative for Covid-19, back in Paris

Lionel Messi has tested negative for Covid-19 and will be back in training with the team in the coming days, Paris Saint-Germain confirmed on Wednesday.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner was contaminated by the virus last week in Argentina, which forced him to have missed PSG's 4-0 French Cup win over Vannes on January 4.

"Messi has tested negative for Covid-19. He has arrived in Paris and will rejoin the squad in the next few days," PSG said in a statement on Wednesday.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla will hold a review meeting this evening over rising cases of Covid-19 in the country.

French parliament approves latest Covid vaccine measures

The French parliament approved on Thursday the government's latest measures to tackle the Covid-19 virus, including a Covid vaccine pass, offering some respite to President Emmanuel Macron after criticism of Macron's attack on the unvaccinated.

The legislation for the Covid-19vaccine pass was approved by 214 members of parliament, versus 93 who voted against it, while there were 27 abstentions. The measures will then go up to the Senate, which will examine it before any further approval.

JUST IN | IITGuwahati declared as a containment zone after 60 Covid-19 newcases were detected on its campus

Omicron shadow over Grammys: Show postponed

The Grammy Awards have been postponed due to coronavirus-related concerns, an Academy spokesperson has confirmed to 'Variety'. No new date has been confirmed as of yet.

The 2022 show, scheduled for January 31, had been moving full speed ahead before a full audience at its traditional venue, the Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as the Staples Center) in downtown Los Angeles, but the recent Covid-19 surge has caused the postponement or cancellation of multiple events across the country.

Two persons in Aligarh tested positive for Omicron on Thursday,Rahul Kulshrestha, of the nodal Covid sampling officetold ANI. "One of them had returned from Dubai and the other from Nigeria. They are in home quarantine. Covid-19 cases are increasing but we are doing testing and are alert," he said.

Thailand raises Covid-19 alert level due to Omicron spread

Thailand on Thursday raised its Covid-19 alert level following rising infections driven by the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a senior health official said.

The change, from level three to four, sets a pretext for possible measures that could follow, such as closing high-risk areas and placing restrictions on domestic travel or public gatherings, said Kiattiphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary of the health ministry.

BREAKING | India has reported 90,928 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.The country's total cases have reached 35.11 million while death toll has reached 482,876.

Mumbai | 30 more resident doctors have tested positive for Covid-19 in Sion Hospital. A total of 260 resident doctors in the state have been tested positive till now,Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors told ANI.

After Cong, BJP and SP cancel programmes in UP

After Congress cancelled its Pink Marathons and rallies in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have also cancelled their election programmes.

According to official sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed rally in Lucknow on January 9 is likely to be cancelled in view of the Covid situation and also inclement weather conditions.

"We have been informed of the cancellation through an official communication in this regard is awaited," said a party functionary.

The Samajwadi Party has also cancelled its Vijay Rath Yatra on January 7, 8 and 9 which was to be led by party chief Akhilesh.

India’s rising Omicron wave brings a grim sense of déjà vu

It has been just a few months since the deadly delta variant ravaged the country when government leaders vastly underestimated its threat and publicly flouted their own advice. The memories of overwhelmed hospitals and funeral pyres working around the clock are still all too fresh here.

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Covid infections surge in European countries as Omicron spreads

Following a break over the holiday season, European countries are witnessing skyrocketing new Covid-19 infections as the Omicron variant continues its onslaught across the continent.

France, Greece and Croatia have broken new Covid-19 case records while the two neighbouring countries of the Netherlands and Belgium have seen infection rates hiking significantly by 35 per cent and 79 per cent respectively, Xinhua news agency reported.

In Greece, despite a tightening of measures during the holiday season, cases have skyrocketed. The National Public Health Organization (EODY) confirmed on Tuesday 50,126 infections within 24 hours, an all-time high.

Greek experts expect the number to continue rising this month, with daily cases possibly reaching 80,000 in the coming days.

Public entry at flag-lowering retreat ceremony at Attari border banned due to Covid-19

CDC expands eligibility of booster dose for adoloscents aged 12-17

The CDC expanded the eligibility of the booster shot in the US for children aged 12 to 17.

The health body recommended that adoloscents of this age group should receive a booster five months after their initial Pfizer shots. The Endorsing Advisory Committee onImmunisation Practices’ (ACIP) recommended to expand the eligibility of booster doses to 12 to 15 year-olds.