Coronavirus updates | January 12, 2022

Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in U.S. and Britain

January 12, 2022 07:48 am | Updated 10:00 pm IST

COVID-19 vaccination drive for school students in a government school in Walajahpet, Ranipet district, Tamil Nadu, January 9, 2021

COVID-19 vaccination drive for school students in a government school in Walajahpet, Ranipet district, Tamil Nadu, January 9, 2021

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 153.7 crore on Tuesday with 76,68,282 vaccine doses being administered till 7 p.m., the Union Health Ministry said.

More than 18 lakh (18,52,611) precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities since Monday.  Over 2,81,00,780  doses  have been given to beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group so far.

You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here . A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.

Here are the updates :

Delhi

COVID-19 hospitalisation rate has stabilised, current wave may have peaked: Delhi Health Minister

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on January12 said the number of hospital admissions in the national capital due to COVID-19 has stabilised over the last five days, which is an indication that the current wave of the pandemic may have peaked and cases may decline in two-three days.

While sharing that Delhi is expected to report 25,000 cases on January 12, he said it is difficult to conclude if a wave has peaked by looking at the positivity rate or the number of cases. Hospital admission rate is the major indicator, he said in response to a question.

“We have observed that the number of hospital admissions has stabilised in the last four to five days and only 2,200 beds are occupied and 85 per cent of the beds are vacant,” the Minister told reporters. - PTI

 

Maharashtra

COVID-19 cases coming down in Mumbai, says mayor; appeals to citizens to get vaccinated

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Wednesday said the numbers of COVID-19 cases and its fast spreading variant Omircon were slowing coming down in the city, and appealed to citizens to get vaccinated against the viral infection. In a recorded video message issued by the mayor's office, Mr. Pednekar said out of those who died due to COVID-19 so far since February 2021, 94% people were unvaccinated.

The Maharashtra capital on Tuesday reported 11,647 new COVID-19 cases, a drop of 2,001 from the previous day and fourth straight day of downward trend, taking the tally to 9,39,867, while two more patients succumbed to the infection, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

On Wednesday, Mr. Pednekar said the number of COVID-19 and Omicron cases reported daily is going down, but at the same time it is necessary that everyone should get vaccinated against the disease. - PTI

Maharashtra

Lata Mangeshkar continues to be under observation: doctor

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar is still under observation in the ICU, three days after she tested positive for COVID-19 and was subsequently admitted to a city hospital, the doctor treating her said on Wednesday.  Ms. Mangeshkar (92) tested positive for coronavirus with mild symptoms and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai on Saturday.  Sharing her health update, associate professor Dr. Pratit Samdani from the Breach Candy Hospital told PTI , "She continues to be under observation in the ICU".

On Tuesday, Ms. Mangeshkar's niece Rachna Shah told PTI that the veteran was admitted to the ICU as she requires "constant care".

"She is mild COVID positive. Considering her age, doctors advised us that she should be in the ICU because she requires constant care. And we cannot take a chance. As a family we want the best and want to ensure she has 24X7 care. - PTI

India

Health facilities must have 48-hour buffer stock of oxygen, Centre tells States

Health facilities providing in-patient care and oxygen therapy should have buffer stock of medical oxygen sufficient for at least 48 hours, the Centre instructed States on January 12 following the continued and significant surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.

In a letter to States, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan directed that all districts should ensure that oxygen concentrators supplied to them were fully functional.

“Their proper upkeep and maintenance need to be ensured,” he said.

The Centre also told States that Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) tanks at the health facilities should be sufficiently filled and an uninterrupted supply chain for their refilling should be ensured.

 

World

Omicron quickly overtaking Delta globally in terms of circulation: WHO

Omicron is quickly overtaking the Delta variant of COVID-19 and becoming dominant around the world, a senior WHO official has warned, with the global health agency cautioning that there is "increasing evidence" Omicron is able to evade immunity but has less disease severity as compared to other variants.

It could take some time for Omicron to overtake Delta in some countries, because it depends on the level of circulation of the Delta variant in those countries, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and COVID-19 Technical Lead at the World Health Organisation (WHO) Maria Van Kerkhove said on Tuesday.

“Omicron has been detected in all countries where we have good sequencing and it's likely to be in all countries around the world. It is quickly, in terms of its circulation, overtaking Delta. And so Omicron is becoming the dominant variant that is being detected,” Kerkhove said during a virtual questions and answers session. - PTI

Tamil Nadu

 

China

China's Tianjin starts new round of mass testing as COVID-19 infections grow

The Chinese city of Tianjin started a new round of COVID-19 testing among its 14 million residents on Wednesday to block the spread of Omicron, while some analysts said curbs to be imposed because of the variant could dent China's economic growth.

Tianjin reported 33 domestically transmitted coronavirus infections with confirmed symptoms for Tuesday, up from 10 a day earlier, national data showed.

The city ordered a half-day off for employees at companies and other institutions on Wednesday and required them to remain at home to comply with the city's second round of mass testing, the local government said in a statement. - Reuters

USA

Biden wants U.S. agencies to mandate COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated employees by February 15

The Biden administration said on Tuesday that federal agencies should require weekly COVID-19 testing by Feb. 15 for unvaccinated government employees who are working on-site or interacting with the public.

A vaccine mandate imposed by President Joe Biden in September covers about 3.5 million federal workers and required them to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22 or face potential discipline or even termination.

The administration said on Tuesday that unvaccinated employees - including those seeking religious or medical exemptions - "should be tested weekly for any week during which they work on-site or interact in person with members of the public as part of their job duties. Agencies may require more frequent testing." - Reuters

World

Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in U.S. and Britain

Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.

The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa.

“It’s going to come down as fast as it went up,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. - AP

Canada

Canada's Quebec plans health tax for residents who refuse COVID-19 vaccine: Premier

Quebec, Canada's second-most populous province, is working on a plan to require a "health contribution" from adults who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination for non-medical reasons, Premier Francois Legault said on Tuesday.

Legault said that unvaccinated people put a financial burden on vaccinated residents and in addition to finalizing the amount to be charged, the province is also working on the legal aspect of such a levy, he said.

While governments globally have imposed movement restrictions on the unvaccinated and few have levied fines on the elderly, a sweeping tax on all unvaccinated adults could be a rare and controversial move. - Reuters

India

India records a whopping 1.85 lakh COVID-19 cases on January 11, 2022

The number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai declined for the fourth consecutive day, with the city recording 11,647 infections on Tuesday. The positivity rate, which indicates the number of positive cases per 100 tests conducted, also reached a seven-day low of 18.7%.

The initial data from the city, which recorded more than 1.75 lakh cases in the past 40 days, indicates a possible early flattening of the case curve.

Data from Delhi and Chennai too hinted at a possible slow down of the spread of infections. In Delhi, 21,529 cases were recorded on Tuesday. While the positivity rate rose slightly above 25%, the pace of increase in cases has slowed down. A similar trend was recorded in Chennai too on Tuesday.

 

USA

Biden says U.S. is on the right track in fight against COVID-19

President Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed confidence the United States was on the right track in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the country grapples with a surge in infections sparked by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

White House officials have said the situation is different from previous stages of the pandemic because more people are getting protection from vaccinations and booster shots.

"I'm confident we are on the right track," Biden told reporters on Tuesday.

However, Biden acknowledged that he was concerned about the pace at which the virus was spreading worldwide because, "it’s not slowing up very much." - Reuters

China

Lockdown in China amid Omicron fears

Several cities in China have locked down hundreds of thousands of their residents and carried out mass testing amid concerns that the spread of the Omicron variant could threaten the country’s “zero COVID” strategy.

Cities in central Henan province as well as the municipality of Tianjin in the north, near Beijing, have reported local spread of Omicron cases, prompting the sweeping measures. The timing is of particular concern for China’s authorities with both the Winter Olympics in Beijing and the annual Chinese new year holiday in the first week of February.

Henan accounted for most of the 110 new local cases reported in China on Monday – a high number for a country following a “zero COVID” approach including continued restrictions on international travel for close to two years – with the rest in Tianjin and in northwestern Shaanxi.

 

West Bengal

COVID negative report must at Ganga Sagar mela: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday modified its order regarding the Ganga Sagar Mela and said only those having COVID negative report in the past 72 hours would be allowed on the Sagar Island.

“Only those who are having COVID negative in the RTPCR report of within 72 hours will be permitted to enter the Sagar Island,” said a Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice K.D. Bhutia.

The Bench reconstituted the committee to review the situation on the Ganga Sagar Island with a retired judge of this High Court as its chairperson. In its earlier order, the court had set up a committee comprising Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, a representative of the State and a representative of the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission.

 

India

Omicron variant behind current surge in COVID-19 cases: expert

The current surge in COVID-19 cases is driven mostly by the Omicron variant, a top health expert in India said on Tuesday. He said the rise in numbers was expected to continue for the next few weeks. At present, COVID deaths were being reported mostly among those with co-morbidities, the expert said.

Following the continued spike in cases across India, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday held a virtual meeting with members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to discuss the clinical treatment guidelines and measures to be brought in to ensure that correct information was provided to the public.

“Most COVID-19 cases in India currently seem to be driven by the Omicron variant,” said N.K. Arora, who heads the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), COVID Working Group. The early indication given by the IIT Kanpur model noted that transmission was taking place very actively and that India should be reaching its peak in the near future. “But it is likely to last for several weeks before it subsides,” Dr. Arora told ANI .

 

World

WHO warns of virus surge in Europe

More than half of people in Europe are on track to contract the Omicron coronavirus variant in the next two months if infections continue at current rates, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference, regional director Hans Kluge warned that the Omicron variant represented a “new west-to-east tidal wave sweeping across” the European region.

“At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) forecasts that more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next six to eight weeks,” Mr. Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries and territories including several in Central Asia, and Mr. Kluge noted that 50 of those countries had confirmed cases of the Omicron variant. - AFP

 

India

No molnupiravir: ICMR team

The ICMR’s National Task Force for COVID-19 has decided against including antiviral drug molnupiravir in the Clinical Management Protocol for COVID-19 as of now, official sources said on Tuesday.

The experts of the task force cited safety concerns, and argued that Molnupiravir was not of much benefit in COVID treatment to arrive at the decision in a meeting held on Monday.

According to the Health Ministry, Molnupiravir is an antiviral drug that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication by viral mutagenesis. This anti-COVID pill got the Drug Regulator General of India’s approval on December 28 for restricted use in emergencies. Mutagenesis is a process by which the genetic information of an organism is changed by the production of mutation.

 

Maharashtra

Fall in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai for fourth day

The number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai declined for the fourth consecutive day, recording 11,647 infections on Tuesday. The positivity rate, which indicates the number of positive cases detected per 100 tests conducted, also reached a seven-day low of 18.7%.

The initial data from the city, which recorded more than 1.75 lakh cases in the past 40 days, indicated a possible early flattening of the case curve.

Data from Delhi and Chennai too hinted at a possible slowdown of the spread of infections. In Delhi, 21,529 cases were recorded on Tuesday. While the positivity rate rose slightly above 25%, the pace of increase in cases has slowed down. A similar trend was recorded in Chennai too on Tuesday.

 

Karnataka

Experts divided over ICMR advisory on ‘purposive testing strategy’

COVID-19 experts in Karnataka have expressed mixed views over the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) latest advisory on ‘Purposive Testing Strategy for COVID-19’ that said contacts of COVID-19 patients do not need to be tested unless identified as high-risk based on age.

According to the advisory issued on Monday, asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical or non-surgical invasive procedures, including pregnant women in/near labour who are hospitalised for delivery, should not be tested unless warranted or symptoms develop. It said no emergency procedure, including surgeries, should be delayed due to lack of a test. Besides, inter-State travellers also need not be tested.

However, COVID-19 experts in Karnataka said the advisory is against the basic principle of containing the pandemic.

 

India

Most serious patients unvaccinated: doctors

As the pandemic is peaking, most COVID-19 patients on ventilator beds or oxygen support in two city hospitals are unvaccinated, said doctors. The situation, however, is different in some other hospitals.

In Lok Nayak Hospital, of the nine patients on ventilator beds on Tuesday, four were unvaccinated, two were partially vaccinated and only one was fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of two were unknown. In Holy Family Hospital, of the nine patients either on ventilator or oxygen support, six were unvaccinated, two were partially vaccinated and all of them were above 50 years of age.

Sumit Ray, head of the Department of Critical Care at Holy Family Hospital, said: “One of the nine patients is fully vaccinated, but has been undergoing chemotherapy. Also, all four patients on the ventilator are unvaccinated. Most with serious illness are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.”

 

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.