Coronavirus Omicron Highlights: Maharashtra logs 27,971 new cases, 61 fatalities

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | Jammu & Kashmir records 4,175 fresh COVID cases, 7,107 recoveries, and five deaths in the last 24 hours 

 Jammu & Kashmir records 4,175 fresh COVID cases, 7,107 recoveries, and five deaths in the last 24 hours. Active cases: 42,219

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | JIPMER at forefront of COVID-19 testing: Director 

JIPMER Director Rakesh Aggarwal on Saturday said the centrally-administered medical institute has been at the forefront of COVID-19 testing and supported setting up testing facilities across the southern region. Slamming reports in some sections of the media that only 50 COVID tests were done every day at the Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Aggarwal dubbed the news as false, mischievous, and malicious. In a press release, he said JIPMER has been performing a big chunk of testing of COVID samples in the Union Territory and has also helped in setting up many testing facilities across the southern regions to conduct real-time PCR, TrueNat, and rapid antigen tests. The Director said JIPMER had performed around 750 RT-PCR tests on average every day this month. This was in addition to a large number of rapid antigen tests performed as point-of-care tests in various wards and procedure rooms in the hospital. 

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | More than 1 Cr (1,16,18,975) precaution doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries for COVID vaccination administered so far. More than 53 lakh (53,47,810) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm today: Union Health Ministry

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | Kerala logs 50,812 new COVID-19 cases 
Kerala logged 50,812 new infections and eight COVID-19-related deaths on Saturday, taking the infection count to 59,31,945 and the death toll to 53,191. According to the health department, 47,649 persons recuperated from the disease, pushing the number of total cured to 55,41,834. The state has tested 1,10,970 samples in the last 24 hours and there are 3,36,202 active COVID-19 cases in the state, the department said. Yesterday, the state reported 54,537 COVID-19 cases whereas it was 51,739 on Thursday. On January 25, Kerala had registered 55,475 cases, the highest ever single day spike in the infection since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. Among the districts, Ernakulam recorded the highest number of cases on Saturday--11,103, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 6,647 and Kozhikode 4,490. Among the latest fatalities, eight were reported in the last 24 hours, 94 were recorded over the last few days, while 311 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court. "Currently, there are 3,36,202 active COVID-10 cases in Kerala out of which only 3.4 per cent are admitted to hospitals," the department said in a release. 

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | 156 new cases push Sikkim's COVID-19 tally to 37,972 

Sikkim's COVID-19 tally rose to 37,972 on Saturday as 156 people tested positive for the infection, nine less than the previous day, a health bulletin said. The Himalayan state's death toll remained unchanged at 428 as no fresh fatality was recorded in the last 24 hours.East Sikkim reported the highest number of new cases at 87, followed by 45 in West Sikkim, 19 in South Sikkim and five in North Sikkim. Sikkim now has 1,315 active cases, while 35,575 people have recovered from the disease and 654 patients have migrated to other states to date. 

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | MDMK chief Vaiko tests positive for COVID-19 

MDMK general secretary Vaiko has tested positive for COVID-19 and he has isolated himself at his residence here, party sources said on Saturday. Vaiko, a Rajya Sabha MP, had symptoms like fever and headache since January 24 and a test confirmed that he has been infected with coronavirus. The 77-year-old party chief has isolated himself at his home and he is being treated for the infection, sources said. Elected in 2019 to the Rajya Sabha, this is Vaiko's fourth term in the upper House.

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | Odisha logs 4,842 new COVID-19 cases, 15 fresh fatalities 
Odisha's COVID-19 tally rose to 12,41,068 on Saturday as 4,842 people tested positive for the infection, 215 less than the previous day; while 15 fresh fatalities, the highest daily spike in deaths in nearly five months, pushed the state's toll to 8,575, a health bulletin said. The daily spike in new cases was the lowest since January 11, and it plunged by 45 per cent from 8,845 a week ago. The state had registered 5,057 cases and 10 fatalities on Friday. Khurda district, where Bhubaneswar is located, reported 1,253 infections, followed by 443 in Cuttack. As many as 671 children are among the new patients. The test positivity rate dipped to 7.58 per cent as 63,871 samples were examined in the last 24 hours, it said. Three fatalities each were recorded in Khurda and Ganjam. Fifty-three patients have died due to comorbidities so far. Three fatalities each were recorded in Khurda and Ganjam.

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | Need to be vigilant even though COVID-19 cases reducing: Mandaviya to eastern states 

There is still a need to be vigilant and not lower the guard even though the active cases of COVID-19 in most of the states and the positivity rate have shown a fall in the last two weeks, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in an interaction with five eastern states on Saturday. State health ministers, principal secretaries/ additional chief secretaries and information commissioners of Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal participated in the meeting, according to an official release. Mandaviya urged them to monitor the case positivity rate on a daily basis and increase the RT-PCR testing rate as most of the states exhibited a lower share of such tests. While the active cases in most of the states and the positivity rate have shown a fall in the last two weeks, we still need to be vigilant and not lower our guard, he stated. The states were also advised to keep a close watch on the number of hospitalisations and deaths. It is important to analyse at the state level the proportion of vaccinated and unvaccinated of the hospitalised cases, the deaths and those on ventilators and oxygen support, he advised them. 

Coronavirus Omicron LIVE Updates | Mumbai sees 1,411 new COVID-19 cases, 11 fatalities 

Mumbai on Saturday reported 1,411 fresh COVID-19 cases and 11 fatalities due to the coronavirus infection, taking the tally to 10,44,470 and the toll to 16,602, the city civic body said. With 3,547 patients being discharged, the total number of recoveries in Mumbai rose to 10,12,921, leaving the metropolis with 12,187 active cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. With 38,965 new tests, the number of samples tested so far in Mumbai went up to 1,51,97,516. Mumbai's case recovery rate now stands at 97 per cent while the case doubling rate increased to 322 days, the report said. There are no containment zones in Mumbai but 13 buildings remain sealed as per protocol after more than five persons in each of these buildings were found infected with the coronavirus infection.