New Delhi: With 2,38,018 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,76,18,271, which includes 8,891 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The active cases have increased to 17,36,628, the highest in 230 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,86,761 with 310 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

There has been an 8.31 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Monday, the ministry said.

Experts said it is not possible to undertake genome sequencing of each and every sample but stressed that the current wave is largely being driven by the Omicron variant.

The active cases comprise 4.62 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.09 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 80,287 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 14.43 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 14.92 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,53,94,882, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.29 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 158.04 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 310 new fatalities include 72 from Kerala and 33 from West Bengal.

A total of 4,86,761 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,832 from Maharashtra, 50,904 from Kerala, 38,445 from Karnataka, 37,009 from Tamil Nadu,25,387 from Delhi, 22,972 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,121 from West Bengal.

The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

NEW DELHI: India saw a single-day rise of 2,58,089 new coronavirus infections taking the tally of cases to 3,73,80,253, which included 8,209 cases of the Omicron variant detected so far, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Monday.

A total of 8,209 cases of the Omicron variant have been detected across 29 states and union territories, out of which 3,109 have recovered or migrated.

Maharashtra recorded the maximum 1,738 cases of the Omicron variant, followed by West Bengal 1,672, Rajasthan 1,276, Delhi 549, Karnataka 548 and Kerala 536 cases.

According to experts, it is not possible to undertake genome sequencing of each and every sample but this current wave is largely being driven by Omicron.

The number of active COVID-19 cases have increased to 16,56,341, the highest in around 230 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,86,451 with 385 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases account for 4.43 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.27 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 1,05,964 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 19.65 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 14.41 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,52,37,461, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.30 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 157.20 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5; and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11; 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20; and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore infections on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.

The 385 new fatalities included 158 from Kerala and 36 from West Bengal.

A total of 4,86,451 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,41,808 from Maharashtra, 50,832 from Kerala, 38,431 from Karnataka, 36,989 from Tamil Nadu, 25,363 from Delhi, 22,963 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,088 from West Bengal.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

New Delhi: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has informed the Supreme Court that a total of 1,47,492 children since April 1, 2020, have lost either their mother or father or both parents due to COVID-19 and other reasons.

Giving the details in a suo motu matter on children in need of care and protection due to loss of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCPCR said its figures are based on data uploaded by states and Union Territories on its ‘Baal Swaraj Portal-COVID care’ up to January 11.

That it is most humbly reiterated that the data of children uploaded on the ‘Baal Swaraj Portal-COVID care’ by the States/UTs comprises of both categories of children, wherein the child has lost both or either of the parent to COVID-19 disease or otherwise from April 2020 onwards , the affidavit filed through advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi said.

The Commission said the data uploaded up to January 11 showed the status of children in need of care and protection included orphans (10,094), lost either parent (1,36,910) and abandoned (488) taking the total to 1,47,492.

In the gender-wise break-up, the commission said, out of the 1,47,492 children, there are 76,508 boys, 70,980 girls and four transgender.

It said that the maximum number of children are between the age group of eight to 13 years (59,010), followed by children in the age group of 14 to 15 years (22,763) and age group of 16 to 18 years (22,626) and four to seven years (26,080).

The Commission also gave the current status of shelter of children and said that maximum of the children are with their single parent -1,25,205, while 11,272 children are with family members, followed by 8,450 with guardians.

It said that 1,529 kids are in children’s homes, 19 in open shelter homes, two in observation homes, 188 in orphanages, 66 in special adoption agencies and 39 in hostels.

Giving the state-wise details of children who lost either their mother or father or both parents to COVID and other reasons since April 2020, the Commission said that the maximum number of such children are from Odisha (24,405), followed by Maharashtra (19,623), Gujarat (14,770), Tamil Nadu (11,014), Uttar Pradesh (9,247), Andhra Pradesh (8,760), Madhya Pradesh (7,340), West Bengal (6,835) Delhi (6,629) and Rajasthan (6,827).

The Commission said that it is taking steps to ensure that children should not be or are less adversely affected in the pandemic.

In this context, NCPCR has been conducting virtual meetings with state commissions for protection of child rights of each States/UTs to know the updated status of preparedness in the event of a third wave of COVID pandemic, if at all such a wave comes , it said.

The Commission informed the top court that it has been conducting zone-wise meetings with SCPCRs of each state/UT and a virtual meeting with North-East states is scheduled to be held on January 19.

The discussions with the SCPCRs are being done to take an updated status of health care facilities, institutions for Children-schools/residential educational institutions, child care institutions, children in street situations and status of implementation of court’s order , it said.

NEW DELHI: India registered 2,68,833 new Covid infections in a day taking the tally to 3,68,50,962, which includes 6,041 Omicron variant cases, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Saturday.

With 402 more deaths, the number of people who have succumbed to the viral disease has risen to 4,85,752.

The case fatality rate was 1.32 per cent.

A total of 6,041 Omicron cases has been detected so far, an increase of 5.01 per cent since Friday, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The daily positivity rate was 16.66 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was 12.84 per cent.

Active cases have increased to 14,17,820, the highest in around 223 days, and comprise 3.85 per cent of the total infections.

The national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.83 per cent, the Health Ministry said.

In a day, the active caseload in the country has increased by 1,45,747.

The total number of people who have recuperated from the disease so far has risen to 3,49,47,390.

The cumulative Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 156.02 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 last year and three crore on June 23, 2021.

The 402 new fatalities include 199 from Kerala and 34 from Delhi.

Of the total deaths reported so far in the country, 1,41,756 are from Maharashtra, 50,568 from Kerala, 38,411 from Karnataka, 36,956 from Tamil Nadu, 25,305 from Delhi, 22,949 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,013 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad district in Gujarat has reported 21.5 per cent COVID-19 positivity rate as compared to the state’s average of around eight per cent, as per the district-wise test figures released on Wednesday.

Besides, the positivity rate in Surat is over 11 per cent, also higher than the state’s average.

A total of 93,758 tests were carried out in Gujarat on Tuesday, out of which 7,476 (or 7.9 per cent) were found positive for the coronavirus infection, according to the statistics updated on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

In Ahmedabad district, 13,485 tests were conducted on Tuesday and 2,903 (21.5 per cent) of them came out positive, as per the state health department.

Ahmedabad conducted the second highest number of tests in the state after Surat, where a total of 18,966 samples were tested on Tuesday.

Surat district reported 2,124 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with the positivity rate of about 11.2 per cent.

The test positivity rate — the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that turn out to be positive — is an important metric through which the public health system keeps a tab on the level of COVID-19 ransmission.

The Ahmedabad district, particularly the city civic limits, has seen a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, contributing to a considerable percentage of the total daily cases being reported across Gujarat.

As on Tuesday, Gujarat had 37,238 active COVID-19 cases.

Out of these, Ahmedabad accounted for 15,721, or over 42 per cent of the total active cases in the state.

Also, Ahmedabad city has so far reported 110 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, including 102 who recovered.

Gujarat has till now recorded 264 Omicron cases, including 225 who have recovered from the infection, as per official data.

The state did not report any new case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 for the second day in a row on Wednesday, keeping its tally unchanged at 264, the state health department said.

At the same time, 13 more patients infected with the highly contagious strain were discharged, it said.

With this, a total of 238 Omicron patients have been discharged so far, leaving only 26 such cases under treatment, said the department said in a release.

Out of 13 new recoveries, nine were from Vadodara and four from Anand districts, said the release.

Ahmedabad city has so far reported the highest number of 110 Omicron cases, out of which 102 have recovered.

Vadodara has reported 44 cases and 41 recoveries, Anand 27 cases and as many recoveries, and Surat 20 cases and as many recoveries, it said.

The active Omicron cases are currently in nine districts of Gujarat – Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Banaskantha, Rajkot, Amreli and Jamnagar, as per the release.

NEW DELHI: India logged 2,47,417 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 236 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,63,17,927 which includes 5,488 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The country saw a single day jump of 620 cases of the Omicron variant, the highest so far, taking the total tally of such cases to 5,488, out of which 2,162 people have recovered or migrated so far.

The active cases have increased to 11,17,531, the highest in 216 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,85,035 with 380 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,367 cases of the Omicron variant followed by Rajasthan at 792, Delhi 549, Kerala 486 and Karnataka 479.

The active cases comprise 3.08 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 95.59 per cent, the ministry said.

A total of 2,57,299 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day on May 21 last year.

An increase of 1,62,212 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 13.11 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 10.80 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,47,15,361 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.34 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 154.61 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 380 new fatalities include 199 from Kerala and 40 from Delhi.

A total of 4,85,035 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,701 from Maharashtra, 50,076 from Kerala, 38,389 from Karnataka, 36,905 from Tamil Nadu, 25,240 from Delhi, 22,940 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,959 from West Bengal.

The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 154.50 crore on Wednesday with more than 66 lakh vaccine doses being administered till 7 pm, the Union Health Ministry said.

More than 26,19,670 precaution doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities since January 10.

Also, 2,96,94,734 first doses have been given to beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group so far.

As many as 66,77,685 doses were administered by 7 pm on Wednesday.

The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase.

The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2 last year.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1, 2021 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1, 2021.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1 last year.

The next phase of vaccination has commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

India began administering precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers, including personnel deployed for election duty and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities, from January 10 amid the country witnessing a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by Omicron variant of the virus.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh reported 11,089 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the tally of active cases in the state to 44,466 while five more deaths pushed the overall death toll to 22,937, an official statement said.

In the past 24 hours, 543 COVID-19 patients recovered from the infection, increasing the total number of the recoveries to 16,89,526, the statement said.

A total of 2.05 lakh samples were tested for presence of COVID-19 in the last one day.

At least 19 staff of a police station in Vrindavan including its SHO have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, as the district reported 319 new infections.

“Covid-19 is spreading its wings here,” said Dr. Bhudeo Singh, In-charge, Rapid Response team.

Vrindavan Kotwali Station House Officer Ajai Kaushal and 18 other staff of the police station were found infected with the virus, he said.

Also, six court staff and 12 employees of the health department have been found infected, he said.

As many as 14 pilgrims were found Covid positive when they were tested at the entrance of the temple, he also.

Kerala’s daily Covid case count increased by 100 per cent from last week to 9,000-plus on Tuesday, prompting the state government to take measures to manage the caseload.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s daily Covid case count increased by 100 per cent from last week to 9,000-plus on Tuesday, prompting the state government to take measures to manage the caseload.

Health Minister Veena George, who cited “increased interaction” during  Christmas and New Year as the reason for the spike, urged all to exercise caution.

The state had imposed a four-day night curfew to prevent crowding during the New Year fete, yet the number of patients has doubled compared to 10 days ago.

Total deaths crossed the 50,000-mark, with the additional count from the last three months forming 39% of that figure.

“This week has seen more people in the 20-40 age group testing positive,” Veena said. 

Set up at least one CFLTC in every district, says CM

She said the testing strategy is based on Central guidelines.

“The elderly and those with comorbidities should take precaution. They need not come to the health centres for medicines as direction has been issued to give them at the doorsteps of people facing lifestyle diseases. Unnecessary travel also should be avoided,” the minister added.

The minister reviewed the preparedness in various districts and the availability of Covid and non-Covid beds in hospitals, ICUs, ventilators, oxygen plants and medicines.

With cases increasing, the health department reactivated 13 committees to deal with the situation.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed the district collectors to set up at least one Covid first-line treatment centre in each district.

The state also requested the Centre to reinstate Covid Brigade to make more health workers available to meet the demand. At present 5.7% of the 44,441 active patients are admitted in hospitals.

NEW DELHI: India logged 1,68,063 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,58,75,790 which includes 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The active cases rose to 8,21,446, the highest in 208 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,84,213 with 277 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Of the total 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,711 people have recovered or migrated so far.

Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,247 cases followed by Rajasthan at 645, Delhi 546, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 350.

The active cases comprise 2.29 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 96.36 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 97,827 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.