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Coronavirus Omicron Highlights | India reported 2,47,417 fresh COVID-19 cases on January 13, taking the total tally to 3,60,70,510, according to the Union Health Ministry's latest update. From the 5,488 cases of omicron variant so far, 2,162 people have recovered or migrated. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,367 cases followed by Rajasthan at 792 ,Delhi 549, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 486.
The active cases increased to 11,17,531, the highest in 211 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am today stated. The active cases comprise 3.08 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 95.59 percent, the ministry said. A total of 2,11,298 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day on May 26. An increase of 1,33,873 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
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Deadly Delta wave stole 2,40,000 lives in India between April-June, says UN
A United Nations report said on Thursday that the deadly wave of COVID-19 Delta variant stole 240,000 lives in India between April and June in 2021 and disrupted economic recovery, and warned that "similar episodes" could take place in the near term.
The flagship United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2022 report also said that with the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 unleashing new waves of infections, the human and economic toll of the pandemic are projected to increase again. "In India, a deadly wave of infection with the Delta variant stole 240,000 lives between April and June and disrupted economic recovery. Similar episodes could take place in the near term, said the report.
"Without a coordinated and sustained global approach to contain COVID-19 that includes universal access to vaccines, the pandemic will continue to pose the greatest risk to an inclusive and sustainable recovery of the world economy, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin said. As per the information by India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 1,54,61,39,465 vaccinations have been administered so far.
South Korea to deploy Pfizer COVID-19 pills as Omicron wave looms
South Korea will begin treating coronavirus patients with Pfizer's antiviral pills on Friday, the first Asian country to do so, as concern mounts over the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Called Paxlovid, some 630,000 of the pills, enough for 21,000 people, arrived on Thursday to be distributed to 280 pharmacies and 90 residential treatment centres, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked chief ministers to ensure minimum damage to the livelihood of common people and economic activities as they work to contain the coronavirus, while noting that its Omicron variant is infecting people many times faster than earlier variants.
“We have to be alert, be careful. But we also have to ensure that there is no panic situation. We have to see that in this festive season, the alertness of people and administration is not lowered anywhere,” he told chief ministers at a virtual meeting to review public health preparedness and the ongoing vaccination programme.
An infant succumbed to COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh on January 13, pushing the death toll to 3,871, while the state recorded 1,773 fresh cases which took its tally to 2,38,355, a health official said. A six-month-old boy succumbed to the virus in Sirmaur district today, he said.
The highest number of 354 fresh cases were found in Kangra, followed by 262 in Solan, 250 in Hamirpur, 225 in Una, 191 in Sirmaur, 171 in Mandi, 123 in Shimla, 65 in Bilaspur, 65 in Kullu, 47 in Chamba, 13 in Kinnaur and seven cases in Lahaul-Spiti.
Maharashtra reports 46,406 new COVID-19 cases, 34,658 recoveries, and 36 deaths today.No new case of Omicron was reported in the state today.
The Mumbai Police informed that 329 police personnel tested positive for COVID in the last 48 hours. Total 126 personnel died so far; The active cases are 1,102.
The number of containment zones in Delhi has seen an almost 17-fold rise from 1,243 zones on January 1 to 20,878 zones on January 12 amid rising coronavirus cases in the city.The increase in the number of containment zones has been proportional to the surge in infections in the national capital.According to district officials, emphasis is being laid on mirco containment to arrest the spread of the infection.
