LIVE: Maharashtra reports 31 new Omicron cases; state tally reaches 141

Of these, Mumbai saw 27 cases, which raised the city's count of such cases to 73. Stay tuned for LIVE updates

10:41 AM

Centre has accepted my suggestion for Covid vaccine booster dose: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the Centre has "accepted my suggestion" to allow the administration of booster doses of Covid vaccine and asserted that the protection of vaccines and booster shots has to be provided to every citizen of the country.

 

His remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that "precaution dose" for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10.

10:13 AM

422 Omicron cases in India

As many as 422 Omicron cases have been detected across 17 states and union territories in India so far and 130 of these people have recovered or migrated, according to Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.

 

Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of Omicron cases at 108, followed by Delhi at 79, Gujarat 43, Telangana 41, Kerala 38, Tamil Nadu 34 and Karnataka 31.

9:24 AM

India logs 6,987 new cases of Covid-19

India recorded 6,987 new cases of Covid-19 and 162 deaths from the disease in the last 24 hours, says health ministry.

9:13 AM

Terrorist blamed for police officer's murder killed in Kashmir gunfight

A terrorist belonging to the Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) outfit was killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag of Jammu and Kashmir Saturday night, police said. Faheem Bhat was allegedly involved in the killing of a police officer last week. Two terrorists were killed in gunfights at Shopian and Pulwama earlier on Saturday. 

9:02 AM

Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 278.34 mn: Reuters tally

More than 278.34 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 5,691,014 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

 

8:19 AM

Uddhav Thackeray welcomes Modi's booster announcements

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement that those in the 15-18 age group will be vaccinated and frontline and health workers will get "precaution doses". The decision will help curb the spread of coronavirus and the provision of booster dose will help senior citizens with co-morbidities too, Thackeray said in a statement Saturday.

7:18 AM

China reports 206 new Covid-19 cases

China reported 206 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Dec. 25, up from 140 a day earlier, its health authority said on Sunday. Of the new infections, 158 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, compared with 87 a day earlier. Most of the new local cases were in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, said Reuters.

5:40 AM

India would need nearly 250 mn more doses

India will begin vaccinating teenagers from the ages of 15 to 18 from January 3 and also administer booster vaccine doses for health-care workers a week later, as Covid-19 cases spike, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. India has 30 million health and frontline workers in the country and 8.1 per cent of the people in the country are aged 60 and above. More here

 

5:38 AM

Modi’s Mann Ki Baat at 11am

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak at 11am on the 84th episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, his monthly radio programme addressing the nation. Writing on Twitter, Modi said he had several inputs from listeners for the last episode of the show this year.