Coronavirus India Highlights: India Reports 7,145 New Cases In Last 24 Hours

The Delhi government on Saturday converted four private hospitals into dedicated centres for the treatment of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron. 

These four hospitals are Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Max Hospital in Saket, Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj and Batra Hospital in the Tughlakabad area of the national capital.

Earlier, only government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital was designated for the Omicron treatment.

India has so far reported over 100 cases of the Omicron. The country detected its first Omicron case on December 2 in Karnataka.

Kerala reported four new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, taking the overall cases of the new variant to eleven in the state on Saturday, Health Minister Veena George said. 

A 17-year-old, who tested positive for the new variant, had returned to Trivandrum from the UK on December 9 along with his parents and sister. His grandmother is also on his contact list.

The Health Minister said that those coming from countries other than in the high-risk category are also testing positive. People who come from abroad should follow strict self-isolation and they shouldn't visit public places for 14 days.

A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.

One more person died from coronavirus in Punjab on Saturday as 28 fresh cases surfaced, taking the state's infection tally to 6,03,917, according to a medical bulletin. So far, 16,628 people have died from the infection in the state.

The death count includes a fatality, which was not reported earlier.

Ludhiana, Pathankot and Mohali reported five cases each followed by three each in Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar. The number of active cases was 306.

Forty-two more people recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have been cured to 5,86,983, as per the bulletin.

Union Territory Chandigarh reported 17 cases, taking its total count to 65,695.

West Bengal on Saturday reported 556 new COVID-19 cases, 24 less than the previous day's figure, pushing the overall tally to 16,26,511, a health department bulletin said. 

Eight more people died in the last 24 hours, increasing the deaths to 19,660. The number of fatalities due to coronavirus was seven on Friday.

Of the fresh fatalities, three each were registered in Kolkata and neighbouring North 24 Parganas district while two COVID-19 deaths were reported in Nadia.

As many as 560 people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 15,99,350. The discharge rate stood at 98.33 per cent.

Amid the scare from the new Omicron variant of coronavirus and the Christmas-New Year festival season around the corner, Mumbai civic chief IS Chahal said people in the metropolis must avoid crowding in hotels, restaurants, cinemas, malls and asserted that attendance caps in place for marriages and other functions will have to be adhered to strictly, reported news agency PTI.

"Use a mask properly, get fully vaccinated. A new variant of the coronavirus called Omicron is spreading rapidly around the world, putting a strain on the health system. Despite repeated appeals by the government and administration to prevent a probable third wave, it has been observed that guidelines are not being followed properly in most places, especially in wedding functions and other ceremonies," he said.

The district administration of Palghar in Maharashtra carried out an experiment, in which it used a drone to deliver COVID-19 vaccine doses in a remote village situated in a rugged terrain, its top official said. The experiment, which was successfully carried out on Thursday, is probably the first of its kind in the state, district collector Dr Manik Gursal, who coordinated in the trial, said.

"As part of the exercise, a batch of 300 vaccines was transported from Jawhar to Zaap village. The task, which would have otherwise taken more than 40 minutes, was completed in just a little over nine minutes. The vaccines were delivered at the local public health centre," the district administration said in a release issued on Friday.

The distance between the two points is around 20 kms, an official said.

One person died of coronavirus in Ladakh, while 17 new cases pushed the infection tally to 21,903, officials said on Saturday, according to news agency PTI. The fatality was reported from Leh on Friday, pushing the death count in the Union Territory to 217 -- 159 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, they said. Of the new cases, 15 were reported from Leh and two from Kargil, officials said, adding that Leh accounts for 18,237 of the total cases, while Kargil has so far recorded 3,666 infections. They said 10 coronavirus patients were discharged after successful treatment in Leh, taking the number of cured patients in Ladakh to 21,513. There are 173 active cases in the Union Territory -159 in Leh and 14 in Kargil.

Puducherry registered 17 fresh cases of COVID-19 during the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, raising the total positive cases to 1,29,309, reported news agency PTI. Puducherry registered six out of the 17 new cases while Karaikal recorded 10 cases and Mahe reported one. The active cases were 171 of whom 29 patients were in hospitals and remaining 142 were in home isolation, Director of the Department of Health G Sriramulu said in a release. Twenty- three patients recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours while overall recoveries were 1,27,259. No fresh fatality was reported from any of the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam during the last 24 hours and the death count remained 1,879.

Thirty COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment at various hospital in Arunachal Pradesh, a senior health official said on Saturday, according to news agency PTI. The coronavirus tally of the state remained unchanged at 55,320 as no new case was reported.

The death count also remained unchanged at 280 as no fresh fatality was registered, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

As many as 55,010 people have been cured of the disease so far, including three on Friday, he said, adding that the recovery rate slightly improved to 99.44% from 99.43% on the previous day.

India reported 7,145 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. There are now 84,565 active cases in the country, the lowest in 569 days, according to the health ministry. Over the 24-hour period, 8,706 recoveries were reported, which pushed the recovery count to 3,41,71,471.

Two COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a health bulletin said on Saturday, accordingly to news agency PTI. The COVID-19 cases count of the Union territory remained unchanged at 7,700 as no fresh infection was detected. A total of 7,569 people have been cured of the disease so far, including one on Friday, and 129 patients have succumbed to the infection to date, it said.

Australia reported record high new COVID-19 cases on Saturday for a third day, with outbreaks growing in the two most populous states, however Prime Minister Scott Morrison continued to downplay the risks as the country eases pandemic curbs, reported news agency Retuers.

New South Wales state reported 2,482 new cases, Victoria state reported 1,504 new cases and Queensland state reported 31 new cases on Saturday, together topping Australia's previous high of 3,820 cases a day earlier.

Sikkim's COVID-19 caseload rose to 32,452 on Friday, with three new infections reported in the past 24 hours, a health department bulletin said. East Sikkim reported all the new cases.

The state's coronavirus deaths stood at 406, with no fatalities reported in the past 24 hours.

Sikkim now has 177 active cases, while 31,528 people recovered from the disease. Altogether 341 patients have migrated to other states.

The Himalayan state has conducted 2,76,104 sample tests for COVID-19 so far.

Delhi recorded zero death due to COVID-19 and 69 fresh cases of the infection with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent on Friday, according to data shared by the city health department. 

On Thursday, the national capital logged 85 cases, its highest in over four months, with a positivity rate of 0.15 per cent. The number of cumulative cases of the disease now stands at 14,42,004. Over 14.16 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.

The deaths due to the coronavirus infection in Delhi stands at 25,100.

Meanwhile, the Centre on Friday said 101 positive cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected across 11 states and union territories so far, and advised people to keep new year celebrations at low intensity.

According to the government, 22 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in the national capital till date.