Omicron LIVE: 5 more cases detected in Karnataka; India's tally at 83

2 of the 5 new cases are from Delhi, says Karanataka Health Minister

Latest live news: Delhi has detected four new cases of variant Omicron to takes its total to 10, said state health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday. India had till last night 73 cases of the variant.

Many international travellers are testing positive for Covid-19 upon landing at Delhi’s international airport, he said.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday blasted junior Home Minister Ajay Mishra over his son, Ashish Mishra, who is under arrest for the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri farmers killing. "The minister must resign. He is a criminal," Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha.

Ride-hailing company Ola said it had raised $500 milllion loan from international institutional investors, as the SoftBank Group backed start-up preps to make its stock market debut next year.

Ola, which has a majority share of India's ride-hailing market where it competes with Uber Technologies, has plans to raise up to $1 billion through an initial public offering.

12:29 AM

Omicron is dominant in wastewater samples in Florida county

Even though there have been practically no cases of clinical infection, wastewater samples show that the new omicron variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the Florida county that is home to the nation's largest theme park resorts, officials said this week.

 

The omicron variant has quickly surpassed the delta variant in collections taken from wastewater sampling sites in Orange County, officials said.

 

A sampling this week showed that omicron represented almost 100% of the strains in the samples from the wastewater facilities, Orange County Utilities spokesperson Sarah Lux said in an email.

11:46 PM

Two-thirds of Delhi's eligible population fully vaccinated against Covid

Of the nearly 1.5 crore people eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in Delhi, over one crore have received both doses of vaccine, according to government data.

 

According to the CoWIN portal, over 2.46 crore doses have been administered in the city since the inoculation exercise started on January 16. As many as 1,00,20,014 people have received both doses.

 

Over 1.08 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Delhi on Thursday.

 

Authorities in Northwest Delhi district have administered the maximum number of doses (over 29 lakh) in the capital, followed by Southwest Delhi (28.69 lakh) and West Delhi (26.57 lakh).

10:25 PM

Four more Omicron cases found in Hyderabad

Four more cases of Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19, were reported in Hyderabad on Thursday, taking the total number of cases detected to seven.

 

Three of those tested positive for Omicron were from Kenya while the fourth person is an Indian, who had come from 'at risk' country.

 

Telangana's Director of Public Jealth Dr G. Srinivasa Rao said the city got four imported Omicron positive cases on Thursday. He said the details will be shared on Friday morning.

 

Three Omicron cases were reported on Wednesday. A 24-year-old female from Kenya and a 23-year-old male from Somalia were found infected by the new variant. A boy had also tested positive for Omicron but he did not enter the city as he left for Kolkata by a domestic flight.

10:13 PM

EU drug agency gives advice on use of Pfizer COVID-19 pill

The European Union drug regulator issued advice on Thursday on the use of Pfizer's experimental pill to treat COVID-19 to countries where authorities may want to use it before it is officially authorized amid surging infection rates.

 

The European Medicines Agency said the medicine, which is not yet authorised for use in the 27-nation EU, can be used to treat adults with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe disease.

 

It said the drug should be given as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within 5 days of the start of symptoms.

9:11 PM

133 fresh COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 133 fresh COVID-19 cases that took its tally to 3,39,404, while five more fatalities pushed the death toll 4,508, officials said.

 

Of the fresh cases, 31 were from the Jammu division and 102 from the Kashmir division of the union territory, they said.

 

Srinagar district recorded the highest number of new cases at 48, followed by 24 in Baramulla district.

 

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 1,435. So far, 3,33,461 people have recovered from the viral disease, the officials said.

 

There are 50 mucormycosis (black fungus) cases in the union territory. No fresh case has been reported since last evening, they said.

9:03 PM

Karnataka reports five more Omicron cases; tally now 8

Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Thursday said five more cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in the state. This takes the state's tally of Omicron cases to eight.

 

"Five more cases of Omicron have been detected in Karnataka today: 19 yr male returning from UK, 36 yr male returning from Delhi, 70 yr female returning from Delhi, 52 yr male returning from Nigeria, 33 yr male returning from South Africa," Sudhakar tweeted.

 

The country's first two Omicron cases-- a South African national who has left the country, and the other a local person, a Doctor with no travel history, were detected in the State on December 2. A 34-year-old Bengaluru native who returned to the city following a business trip in South Africa had become the third case on December 12.

8:36 PM

'Five more cases of Omicron have been detected in Karnataka today'

8:13 PM

Pakistan-West Indies ODIs postponed and rescheduled for early June 2022

8:08 PM

Tri services inquiry into chopper crash expected to be completed within next two weeks: Sources

7:55 PM

Kerala reports 3,404 new cases

6:46 PM

Can't dismiss as 'mild', Omicron spreading faster than other Covid-19 variants: WHO Regional Director

6:44 PM

Woman health worker tests positive for Omicron variant in Gujarat's Mehsana

A 41-year-old woman health worker was found infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus at a village in Vijapur tehsil of Gujarat's Mehsana district on Thursday, officials said.

 

This is the fifth case of Omicron infection in Gujarat so far.

 

"The woman serves as an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA). She does not have any history of foreign travel, but she recently came in contact with her relatives who had arrived from Zimbabwe, one of the 'at risk' countries," Chief District Health Officer Dr Vishnubhai Patel said.

5:16 PM

Govt lowers GST rate to 5% from 18% on ethanol meant for blending under EBP programme

4:32 PM

A govt job and Rs 1 crore will be given to the family Group Captain Varun Singh: MP CM

3:18 PM

Mortal remains of Group Captain Varun Singh reach Bhopal airport