Omicron variant, Coronavirus news updates - Delhi records 125 fresh cases; positivity rate 0.20%

India has recorded 6,317 as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the last 24 hours. The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that 200 hundred cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in India so far out of which 77 patients have recovered or migrated, as per a PTI report.

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India will have Omicron's third wave but it will be milder than the second wave, as per an ANI report, Vidyasagar who is the head of the National COVID-19 Supermodel Committee . He noted that the third wave is likely to arrive early next year.

Omicron, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, has caught the attention of the government as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed it as a variant of concern. According to Manindra Agarwal, IIT scientist involved in the mathematical projection of trajectory of COVID-19, the third wave of coronavirus could hit the peak by February with cases likely to be reaching up to 1-1.5 lakh a day due to Omicron. However, it will be milder than the second wave, he told to PTI.

“With the new variant, our current forecast is that the country could see the third wave by February but it will be milder than the second wave. So far, we have seen that the severity of Omicron is not like the one seen in the Delta variant,” PTI said in a report quoting Agarwal.

Here are the updates from India:

6.58 PM: The national capital logged 125 Covid cases in a day with a positivity rate of 0.20 per cent while there was zero death due to the viral infection, according to data shared by the Delhi health department with PTI on Wednesday.
With this, the total COVID-19 cases reported in the city so far increased to 14,42,515. Of these, over 14.16 lakh have recuperated from the disease, the department said.
The death toll due to COVID-19 stands at 25,102.
Delhi has recorded four deaths due to Coivd in December so far. Seven deaths were reported in November, four in October and five in September.
The city reported 102 cases on Tuesday with a positivity rate of 0.20 per cent and 91 cases on Monday with the same positivity rate. On Sunday, the city logged 107 cases while the positivity rate was 0.17 per cent.
As many as 86 cases were reported on Saturday and 69 on Friday with a positivity rate of 0.13 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.
A total of 63,313 Covid tests, including 56,511 RT-PCR, were conducted in the city on Tuesday, the bulletin stated. There are 624 active cases in the city, up from 557 on Tuesday.
The number of people in home isolation stands at 289, up from 262 on Tuesday, the health department bulletin stated.
The active case count crossed the 500-mark after over four months on Sunday. The national capital had 513 active cases on August 15. The number of containment zones in the city stands at 184, up from 173 on Tuesday, the bulletin said.
Amid the Omicron scare, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday said all samples that test positive for COVID-19 will now be sent for genome sequencing.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority during which the Omicron situation, including its possible effects and steps to deal with it, was discussed, according to the chief minister.
He also urged the Centre to allow the administration of booster shots to the fully vaccinated city residents.
Kejriwal also said the home isolation system will be strengthened in Delhi as according to experts the Omicron variant only causes mild symptoms. He said the government has made adequate arrangements for hospital beds, oxygen, medicines and everything else that may be needed to combat the virus.
"We will not let the people of Delhi face any difficulty in their treatment," he added.
The chief minister held a meeting on November 30 to review preparations to tackle a possible third wave of coronavirus and the spread of the Omicron variant.
It has been assessed that 30,000 Covid beds are ready in Delhi.
The government will be able to arrange 100 beds per ward on a two-week notice, which will take the total bed capacity in Delhi to over 64,000, according to an official statement.
Additionally, 6,800 ICU beds will also be ready very soon. Medicine stocks are currently being added and home isolation arrangements are being strengthened, the government statement said.

3.17 PM: A day after Odisha reported its first Omicron cases, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday appealed to people to strictly follow the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour to defeat the new variant of coronavirus, as per PTI. 
Patnaik made the appeal through a video message, saying: Now COVID-19 new variant Omicron is spreading across the globe. Therefore, I appeal to people to remain alert and follow the norms like wearing masks, hand wash, maintaining social distancing and avoid crowd.
Stating that the state with the support of people has successfully tackled the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the chief minister said public cooperation was essential.
Odisha on Tuesday reported two cases of Omicron variant after conducting genome sequencing of 12 COVID-19 positive patients who recently returned from foreign countries.
Meanwhile, the state government on Wednesday convened a meeting of senior officials to discuss additional measures to be taken in view of the Omicron variant which has already made its entry into Odisha. "The meeting resolved to increase surveillance and vaccination activities. The government will expand genome sequencing tests," said Nirajan Mishra, the director of public health service.
Health Services Director Bijay Mohapatra said the Central Government has written to all states and union territories advising the administrations to impose restrictions if the test positivity rate (TPR) crosses 10 per cent or occupancy of oxygen-supported ICU beds touches 40 per cent.
Therefore, the people should adhere to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. We should take every possible step to stop further transmission of the virus,? he said, adding that Omicron is three times more transmissible than the Delta variant.
Noting that the present situation shouldn't be taken lightly, he said, people's cooperation is essential to fight the danger from the Omicron.
The Centre has suggested to states to formulate a strategy that can ensure infection is contained at the local level itself before it spreads to other parts of the state.
Meanwhile, Odisha recorded a slight rise in its daily COVID caseload on Wednesday as 183 more people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours pushing the tally to 10,53,349.
The state had reported 146 cases on Tuesday and 186 and 193 cases on Monday and Sunday respectively.
The new cases included 30 children and adolescents, the official said. Khurda district of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part reported the highest of 99 new cases followed by Cuttack at 13. Thirteen districts reported no new cases.
The state's daily test positivity rate now stands at 0.32 per cent as 183 people tested positive for infection out of 55,794 samples tested on Tuesday.
Odisha now has 1,804 active COVID-19 cases.
As many as 10,43,045 patients have recovered from COVID-19.
With one more fatality reported from Kendrapara district, the state's COVID death toll reached 8,447 on Wednesday. At least 53 other COVID-19 patients have so far succumbed due to comorbidities, the official said.
The state has thus far tested 2.49 crore samples for COVID-19 while over 1.90 crore beneficiaries are fully inoculated with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

2.30 PM: Tata Medical & Diagnostics on Wednesday said it has indigenously developed a fast-testing solution for COVID-19 to significantly boost India's testing capacity amid the Omicron variant threat, reported PTI. 
The solution, Tata MD CHECK Express RT-PCR, can be applied in multiple areas where quick, high volume, and reliable testing is required, such as airports and events, the company claimed.
With studies in India pointing to a possible surge in cases in February next year, there is expected to be a multifold increase in demand for RT-PCR COVID tests that are economical and give fast results, it added.
To meet this challenge, Tata Medical & Diagnostics (Tata MD) has indigenously developed the COVID testing solutions that will significantly boost India's COVID testing capacity, the company said.
Its solutions include 'Tata MD CHECK XF', a kit that has a processing time of one hour and can process 30 samples per batch per machine. It is approved by ICMR with over 95 per cent sensitivity and 100 per cent specificity.
The other one is the 'Tata MD CHECK RT-PCR Fast 3Gene' kit that uses a fast amplification protocol, with a processing time of 90 minutes and can process 90 samples per batch per machine. It is approved by ICMR with 100 per cent sensitivity and 100 per cent specificity, the company said.
Tata Medical & Diagnostics CEO Girish Krishnamurthy said the company was striving to indigenously develop innovative medical technologies and working on several new technologies for COVID-19 testing.
"These express testing solutions can be applied in multiple areas where quick, high volume, and reliable testing is required such as airports and events," he added.
The company said its new Tata MD CHECK Express PCR testing solution has been in use at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, since early this month and has proven to deliver rapid and dependable results in a real-world environment with a high volume of tests.
"It has proved instrumental in helping to address the rush of fliers from 'high risk' countries required to undergo mandatory RT-PCR testing," the company said.
Last year in November, the company had launched its COVID testing kit, 'TataMD CHECK', developed in partnership with CSIR-IGIB (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology). It has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

2.25 PM: Six international passengers who have tested positive for Covid-19 have been sent to home isolation in a designated hospital in Bengaluru, Health department sources said on Wednesday, IANS reported. 

These passengers, including three women, arrived to KempeGowda International Airport this morning. They arrived from Frankfurt, Paris and Kuwait.

The authorities have sent their samples for genome sequencing and their results are awaited. The state Health department has tightened vigilance at international airports in the state in the backdrop of Omicron fears.

As many as 19 cases of Omicron variant have been reported in the state and results are awaited for many more samples of the primary and secondary contacts of these persons.

Since Christmas and New Year celebrations are around the corner, the authorities have initiated strict vigil on international passengers especially from high-risk countries.

The state government has released new guidelines for New Year and Christmas celebrations and imposed restrictions on large gatherings and parties.

2.15 PM:  Genome sequencing of samples of all COVID-19-infected people in Delhi began Wednesday to ascertain if the new Omicron variant has spread in the community, city Health Minister Satyendar Jain said, as per a PTI report. 
The national capital is recording around 100-125 cases a day, while it has the capacity of genome sequencing of 400-500 samples daily.
"The Delhi government-run labs at the Lok Nayak Hospital and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences can sequence 100 samples each day. Two Centre-run labs in Delhi can sequence 200-300 samples a day. So, 400-500 samples can be analysed in a day,? Jain said.
"Around 100 to 125 new cases are emerging every day.... Samples of all COVID-19 patients will be sequenced from Wednesday. Through this, we will be able to ascertain the number of cases from the society. Till now, the maximum number of (Omicron) cases have come from foreign countries (sic)," he told reporters.
Jain had said Tuesday that three Omicron patients in Delhi had no travel history.
The total number of Omicron cases in the national capital mounted to 54, according to data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday.
Following a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that samples of all Covid-positive patients would be sent for genome sequencing.
Minister Jain said the government will take steps to prevent crowding during Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations. 

2.10 PM: India has recorded 213 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 15 states and UTs so far out of which 90 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday, as per a PTI report. 
Delhi has recorded the maximum 57 cases of the Omicron variant followed by Maharashtra at 54, Telangana 24, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 18, Kerala 15 and Gujarat 14.
The ministry data updated at 8 am also stated that India has logged 6,317 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,47,58,481, while the active cases declined to 78,190, the lowest in 575 days.

10.49 AM: News agency ANI tweeted, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a meeting to review the COVID-19 related situation in the country tomorrow: GoI sources."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a meeting to review the COVID-19 related situation in the country tomorrow: GoI sources

(file photo) pic.twitter.com/P4uQ8QgRZR

— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2021

10.00 AM: 213 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in India so far informed the Union Health Ministry, as per PTI. 

9.30 AM: India's active caseload currently stands at 78,190 which lowest in 575 days. Furthermore, 6,906 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to  3,42,01,966.

9.26 AM: With the addition of 66 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,71,370, while the death toll remained unchanged at 11,601, an official said on Wednesday, as per a PTI report.
These new cases were reported on Tuesday, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane 2.03 per cent.
In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,39,020, while the death toll stands at 3,307, another official said.

9.25 AM: 138.96 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive

9.04 AM: Delhi-based businessman Sahil Thakur, who has just recovered from a bout of infection from the Omicron variant of Covid, said he is currently home isolated after being discharged from a hospital, and a couple of security personnel "keep a watch" outside his house to ensure no one ventures out, as per a PTI report.
The 27-year-old Rohini resident, who had tested Covid positive after returning to Delhi from Dubai, said, even after the home isolation restrictions are lifted, "I have been told that I will be under 14-day observation at home, and doctors will check on me intermittently".
Thakur on Tuesday also said he had been diagnosed with Covid during the first wave of the pandemic too, with loss of taste and smell, but no fever or cough.
Omicron is the latest variant of the novel coronavirus infection and reporting of its cases, in various countries, including India, has brought the focus back on the pandemic, the previous two waves of which wrecked havoc in people's lives.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified a new variant of SARS-CoV-2. It has been named as Omicron. The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus, WHO has informed.

The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24th November 2021. The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant.

It must be noted that India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakhs on August 23, 40 lakhs on September 5 and 50 lakhs on September 16. It went past 60 lakhs on September 28, 70 lakhs on October 11, crossed 80 lakhs on October 29, 90 lakhs 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 crores on June 2.