Covid cases in India: The overall recovery rate currently stands at 98.36 per cent. (File)
New Delhi:
India recorded 9,419 new Covid cases on Thursday — a daily spike that’s 11.6 per cent higher than the previous day. This took the active caseload to 94,742. At least 159 deaths were also recorded in the day.
Meanwhile, a World Health Organization official said the Omicron variant does not appear to cause more severe disease than previous Covid variants, and is “highly unlikely” to fully dodge vaccine protections.
A total of 129.54 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.
Here are the LIVE Updates on Coronavirus cases in India:
Just In| Kerala reports 4,169 new cases, 52 deaths and 4,357 recoveries today; Active caseload stands at 40,546
A World Health Organization panel said it’s best to give people two doses of the same Covid-19 vaccine, but mixing and matching is a good solution for countries facing supply constraints.
“We still believe the best approach is to use the same vaccine for the two primary doses,” said Alejandro Cravioto, chairman of the panel, at a briefing Thursday.
Vaccine combinations, already used by some governments, could help low- and middle-income countries manage stockpiles and deal with vaccine shortages as the new omicron variant spreads. European Union regulators endorsed mixing two different Covid-19 shots for initial vaccine schedules and boosters on Tuesday.
Netcare Ltd., which operates the largest private healthcare network in South Africa, is seeing milder Covid-19 cases even as omicron is driving up the number of people testing positive for the virus.
The symptoms displayed by patients in Netcare’s hospitals in the epicenter of the current fourth wave, the province of Gauteng, “are far milder than anything we experienced during the first three waves,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Friedland said in a statement Wednesday.
This echos initial findings from two other local hospital groups that show most Covid patients are not needing oxygen or intensive treatment. Scientists are still conducting scores of tests in order to get a better grasp of omicron’s risks and much will only be known in coming weeks.
During the first three waves, the rate of hospital admissions rose in tandem with the rate of community transmission and this may now be “decoupling,” Friedland said.
Odisha logged 195 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 10,50,955 on Thursday, a Health Department bulletin said.
The COVID-19 toll rose to 8,428 as a person each from Khurda and Kendrapara districts succumbed to the pathogen. Fifty-three other Covid patients have died due to comorbidities so far, according to official data.
Twenty-four children were among the new patients and Khurda district reported the highest number of 99 new infections, the bulletin stated.
The state now has 2,071 active COVID-19 cases, while 10,40,403 people have recuperated from the contagion so far, including 264 in the past 24 hours, it said.
At least 61,899 samples were tested during the period and the positivity rate was 0.32 per cent, the bulletin said.
Greece Lifts Travel Restrictions For Tourists From India
The Global Visa Center World has announced that Indian citizens and residents of India can now enter Greece following the Covid-19 testing protocol as a precautionary measure against the pandemic.
South Africa on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s coronavirus booster shots for over-18s, as the Omicron variant dominates rising new infections.
The South African Health Products Authority said in a statement that it was authorising a third vaccine dose “in individuals aged 18 years and older, to be administered at least six months after the second dose”.
Severely immuno-compromised children aged between 12 and 17 years can be given a third shot at least 28 days after their second dose, it added.
9,419 Fresh Covid Cases In India, 11.6% Higher Than Yesterday
India recorded 9,419 new Covid cases on Thursday — a daily spike that’s 11.6 per cent higher than the previous day. This took the active caseload to 94,742. At least 159 deaths were also recorded in the day.
The US Senate on Wednesday voted to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large private employers, in a symbolic win for conservatives that will have little tangible effect.
The measure passed 52-48 with the support of all 50 Republicans in the upper chamber and two centrist Democrats, but is not expected to fare well in the House of Representatives, where it may only have support from the right.
Under Biden’s plan, all companies with more than 100 workers will have to require their employees to be immunized or undergo weekly testing from January 4.
Early data indicates the Omicron Covid variant may more easily reinfect people who have already had the virus or been vaccinated than previous variants, but could also cause milder disease, the WHO said Wednesday.
“Emerging data from South Africa suggests increased risk of reinfection with Omicron,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, adding that “there is also some evidence that Omicron causes milder disease than Delta”.
But he stressed that more data was needed before drawing firm conclusions, and urged countries everywhere to boost their surveillance to help provide a clearer picture of how Omicron is behaving.
US health authorities on Wednesday authorized the use of synthetic antibodies developed by AstraZeneca to prevent Covid-19 infections in people who react badly to vaccines.
It was the first time the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization for such a purely preventative treatment.