COVID-19 Cases in India: The country's total Omicron tally has now crossed 200 cases. (File)
India reported 6,317 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. With this, the country's caseload reached 3,47,58,481. India's active caseload currently stands at 78,190, the lowest in 573 days.
The country also reported 318 new Covid-related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total death count to 4,78,325. The number of fatalities today is significantly up from yesterday's spike of 132 deaths.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the active cases in the country account for less than one per cent of total cases, currently at 0.24 per cent which is the lowest since March last year.
The number of cases of Covid's fast-spreading strain Omicron has crossed the 200-mark in India, the Union Health Ministry said today, with Omicron cases in India currently standing at 213.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus cases in India:
Coronavirus Updates: Uttarakhand reports first case of Omicron variantUttarakhand on Wednesday reported its first case of Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus infection.
A 23-year-old woman, who had returned recently from Scotland, tested positive for the Omicron variant, Uttarakhand's Director General Health Tripti Bahuguna said. The woman, a resident of Kanwli road, had returned from Scotland to Delhi on December 8. Her RT-PCR test conducted at the airport had come out negative.
She came along with her parents to Dehradun in a car on that day. But when she was tested again, she tested positive for the latest variant of the pandemic on December 12.
UK reduces COVID-19 self-isolation to 7 days for most in EnglandThe British government said that from Wednesday it was reducing the COVID-19 self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row.
With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly in Britain and record levels of cases over the past week, many industries are struggling with staff shortages, including hospitals which have warned of the risk of an impact on patient safety.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said its analysis suggested a seven-day isolation period alongside two negative lateral flow test results had nearly the same protective effect as a 10-day isolation period without testing.
Too Soon To Decide If Omicron More Severe Than Delta: WHOThe World Health Organization does not yet have enough data on the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus to say if it is more severe than the Delta variant, an official said on Wednesday, almost a month after South Africa first raised the alarm about its emergence.
"We do have some data suggesting that rates of hospitalisation are lower," WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove, said in a briefing with media.
But she cautioned against drawing conclusions from the early data because "we have not seen this variant circulate long enough in populations around the world, certainly in vulnerable populations".
She said the data on the new variant, first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November, was still "messy" as countries reported its arrival and spread.
UK Reports Over 1 Lakh Daily Covid Cases, Highest Daily Rise
The UK government on Wednesday reported 106,122 new virus cases in the last 24 hours, the first time the daily figure has topped 100,000, as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly.
The UK is one of Europe's most affected by the virus with 147,573 deaths since the pandemic began and more than 11 million positive cases. The government is urging the public to get third vaccine jabs and more than 30 million have received boosters so far.
Coronavirus Updates: Nine more cases of Omicron detected in Kerala, tally now 24
Nine more cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus were detected in Kerala on Wednesday, taking the tally to 24, state Health Minister Veena George said.
Six people who reached Ernakulam and three who reached Thiruvananthapuram have been detected with the virus, the minister said.
Two from the UK, aged 18 and 47 years, a 43-year-old woman and a 11-year-old from Tanzania, a woman aged 44 from Ghana and a 26-year-old woman from Ireland are those found infected in Ernakulam.
A couple aged 54 and 52 from Nigeria and a woman aged 51 from the UK were confirmed with the infection in Thiruvananthapuram.
COVID-19: Sweden to require negative virus test for all foreigners on entry
All foreigners seeking to enter Sweden will have to present a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours, the government said on Wednesday as cases surged.
The requirement will come into force on December 28 and will apply to all non-citizens and non-residents over the age of 12, including travellers from the EU and neighbouring Nordic countries.
"All travellers will need to be able to present a negative test for an ongoing infection of Covid-19 upon arrival to Sweden, regardless of which country you are travelling from," the government said in a statement.
Just In| 1,201 new Covid cases in Maharashtra today, 8 deaths
Just In| 490 new Covid cases in Mumbai today, highest since October 15
Andhra Pradesh reports second Omicron case; Logs 103 fresh COVID-19 cases, 2 deathsAndhra Pradesh reports second Omicron case; Logs 103 fresh COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths
Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday reported its second positive case of Omicron variant of COVID-19 after the samples of a 39-year-old woman who recently arrived from Kenya confirmed it, the state health department said.
The woman who landed at Chennai airport on December 10 and travelled to Tirupati by road is healthy and in institutional quarantine under close observation of the health department officials, the official twitter handle of ArogyaAndhra said.
"She was tested upon reaching Tirupati and was declared RT-PCR positive for COVID-19 on December 12, 2021. Her sample was sent to CCMB, Hyderabad for genome sequencing and the result was declared as Omicron positive on 22-12-2021," it said.
However, six family members of the woman have tested negative for the virus.
This is the second case of Omicron identified in the state.
Coronavirus Updates: Kerala's logs 3,205 fresh COVID-19 cases, 383 deaths
After reporting less than 3,000 fresh COVID-19 cases for the last three days, Kerala on Wednesday recorded 3,205 new infections, taking the caseload to 52,13,943.
The state also reported 383 deaths, raising the toll to 45,538, a government release said.
Of the 383 deaths, 36 were recorded over the last few days and 347 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court.
With 3,012 more people recovering from the virus since Tuesday, the total recoveries reached 51,51,715 and the active cases dropped to 27,842.
As many as 56,388 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.
Just In| Delhi reports 125 new cases, 58 recoveries, and 0 deaths in the last 24 hours; Active caseload stands at 624
Just In| Former MP Dimple Yadav tests positive for Covid
Just In| Omicron effect: Delhi bans Christmas, New Year gatherings
UK reduces COVID-19 self-isolation period to 7 days for most in EnglandThe British government said that from Wednesday it was reducing the COVID-19 self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row.
With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly in Britain and record levels of cases over the past week many industries are struggling with staff shortages, including hospitals who have warned of the risk of an impact on patient safety.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said its analysis suggested a seven-day isolation period alongside two negative lateral flow test results had nearly the same protective effect as a 10-day isolation period without testing.
"We want to reduce the disruption from COVID-19 to people's everyday lives," health secretary Sajid Javid said in a statement.
213 Omicron Cases In India, Most In Delhi; PM Modi's Meet Likely Tomorrow: 10 PointsThe number of cases of fast-spreading strain Omicron has risen to 213 in India, with Delhi and Maharashtra reporting the most number of infections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting to review the situation tomorrow, sources told NDTV.
Amid signs of rise in Omicron infections, the Centre, in an advisory, has asked the states to activate "war rooms" and bring back curbs, including night curfews to contain it. It also listed a series of prevention and containment measures that included extensive testing and regulation of gatherings.
The letter from the health ministry called for "greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making and strict and prompt containment action", as it directed the states/union territories to be "prompt and focused and take containment measures and restrictions even before these thresholds are reached".
Bill Gates' Omicron Thread: "We Could Be Entering Worst Part Of Pandemic"Bill Gates, in a series of tweets aimed at alerting the public to the worrisome nature of the present surge in Omicron worldwide, said on Tuesday that he's canceled most of his holiday plans.
Noting that his close friends have increasingly been getting infected with the virus, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder urged his followers take cognizance of the fact that we "could be entering the worst part of the pandemic".
6,317 fresh Covid cases in India today, 213 total Omicron cases across country213 Omicron cases have been reported in India so far, the most being in Delhi, at 57 cases.
6,317 fresh COVID-19 cases have also been reported, 18% higher than yesterday's daily spike of 5,326 cases, the Ministry of Health said today. The country also logged 318 new deaths today in the same 24 hour period.
Telangana reports 4 new Omicron cases, taking tally to 24 in state
The first case of local transmission of Omicron was reported in Telangana along with three other cases of people who had come in from not-at-risk countries, taking the Omicron numbers in the state to 24.