LIVE: WHO approves Covovax for emergency use; 8 new Omicron cases in Maha

'This is yet another milestone in our fight against COVID-19, Covovax is now WHO approved for emergency use, showing excellent safety and efficacy,' tweets Serum CEO

1:56 AM

Gujarat logs two new cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19, tally reaches 7

Two new cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been reported from Vadodara in Gujarat on Friday, taking the total number of patients in the state to seven. Dr Devesh Patel, Medical officer of Vadodara Municipal Corporation said that both have returned from Zambia and are admitted to a private hospital.

 

Apart from Vadodara, the Omicron cases are in the Jamnagar, Surat and Mehsana districts of the state. Last week, Gujarat reported its first case of new COVID 19 variant Omicron in Jamnagar, informed the state's health department.

1:24 AM

Omicron: School closures must be 'avoided whenever possible', says UNICEF

Despite the rise in the cases of COVID-19 due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant, nationwide school closures should be avoided whenever possible, said Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

 

"When COVID-19 community transmission increases and stringent public health measures become a necessity, schools must be the last places to close and the first to re-open", argued Henrietta Fore.

 

The new cases are being fuelled, increasingly, by Omicron; the new variant of concern that public health experts and scientists are working hard to understand and assess. Amid rising uncertainty, many governments are weighing whether to keep schools open. Fore said that one thing was certain: "Another wave of widespread school closures would be disastrous for children."

11:03 PM

Omicron cases in Kerala rise to 7 as couple turns positive

With a couple arriving from the UAE testing positive for Omicron, the total number of cases in Kerala of the new Covid variant have risen to 7, state Health Minister Veena George said on Friday.

 

She said the couple, aged 68 and 67, hails from Ernakulam and had arrived from Sharjah on December 8.

 

"Since the UAE does not come in the high risk list of countries, the two, after arriving, were in self-isolation and underwent a RT-PCR test on December 11 and 12 and they tested positive for Covid. Then these samples were sent for genomic sequencing and tested positive for Omicron," said George.

 

"The primary contacts of the husband were six people, while the wife had one. There were 54 passengers on the flight from Sharjah and those who have come in direct contact with the couple have been asked to undergo the test. With this, the number of Omicron cases among those who arrived from non-risk countries have gone up to three, hence all those arriving from non-high risk category have all been directed to strictly undergo self-isolation for two weeks," she added.

10:47 PM

South Africa to donate over 2 mn Covid vaccines to other African countries

South Africa will donate over two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other African countries, the government said on Friday.

 

This donation embodies South Africa's solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the continent, with whom we are united in fighting an unprecedented threat to public health and economic prosperity," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement.

 

The only way in which we can prevent COVID-19 transmission and to protect economies and societies on our continent, is to successfully immunise a critical mass of the African population with safe and effective vaccines, he said.

10:04 PM

Delhi records 69 new cases; positivity rate 0.12%

Delhi on Friday recorded no death due to COVID-19 and 69 fresh cases with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

 

The number of cumulative cases stood at 14,42,004. Over 14.16 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.

 

The death toll from the pandemic stands at 25,100 in Delhi.

 

Two coronavirus-linked deaths have been recorded in December so far -- one each on December 6 and December 8.

 

Seven COVID-19 deaths were reported here in November this year, the highest count of fatalities due to the coronavirus infection in the last three months in the national capital, according to official data.

9:27 PM

Scientists looking into booster dose issue, primary vaccination foremost goal, says govt

The Union government on Friday said the scientific community is looking at all aspects of administering a booster dose of Covid vaccine while asserting that providing primary vaccination coverage to the maximum possible population remains the foremost goal.

 

These interventions and measures are driven by science, local epidemiology and resources, said NITI Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul at a press conference.

 

"This time around vaccine resources, broadly speaking, are in a good shape. What we are doing concurrently is engaging our scientific community to look at these issues on an ongoing basis," he said.

9:22 PM

India's Omicron Covid count crosses 100-mark

India's Omicron COVID count crossed the 100 mark on Friday after recording the highest single day rise of 24 fresh cases of the new variant, even as the Centre advised people to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings and keep New Year celebrations at low intensity.

 

As the Omicron tally from 11 states and union territories stood at 111 exactly 15 days after the first case of the potentially more contagious COVID variant was detected in Karnataka, 20 new cases were reported from Maharashtra(8) and Delhi(12) to take their total to 40 and 22 respectively. Telangana and Kerala recorded two more cases each to take their tally to eight and seven respectively.

 

The Centre also warned it is likely that the spread of the new variant will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission.

9:18 PM

Maharashtra reports eight new Omicron infections, tally rises to 40

Maharashtra on Friday recorded eight new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, taking the tally of such infections to 40, the state health department said. Earlier, the department had put the state's Omicron patient tally at 48, but a later release revised it to 40.

All eight patients are male, aged between 29 to 45 years, it said. Seven of them are asymptomatic while one has mild symptoms, the health department added.

As per the report given by the National Institute of Virology today, eight more patients were found to be infected with Omicron in the state. Six patients are from Pune, one is from Mumbai and one from Kalyan Dombivli (near Mumbai), it said. According to preliminary information,

 

four patients from Pune had travel history to Dubai and two were their contacts.

8:19 PM

FY22 advance tax collections jump 53.5% to Rs 4.6 trn so far

8:04 PM

Covovax is now WHO approved for emergency use: Adar

8:02 PM

Maharashtra reports eight new Omicron patients, state's tally rises to 48

7:46 PM

WHO issues emergency use listing to Novavax-Serum's Covid vaccine

The World Health Organization on Friday issued an emergency use listing to Covovax, Serum Institute of India's version of Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine.

 

The agency said that Novovax's own vaccine is currently under assessment by the European Medicines Agency, and it will complete its own assessment of this vaccine once the EMA has issued its recommendation.

7:33 PM

We should not dismiss Omicron as mild: Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia

6:30 PM

AM/NS project to generate employment opportunities to 16,000 persons: Odisha govt

6:22 PM

Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel to invest more than Rs 1 trn in Kendrapara