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AMID ‘THIRD WAVE’ FEARS, INDIA SEES HUGE SURGE IN COVID CASES

‘Weekend curfew, not lockdown, imposed in Delhi’; CM Arvind Kejriwal, BJP’s Manoj Tiwari and Congress’ Randeep Surjewala test Covid positive; AIIMS Delhi cancels winter vacation, asks faculty to join immediately; Mumbai sees 10,860 new Covid cases, city Mayor says lockdown will be clamped if daily cases cross 20,000 mark.

Even as Dr N.K. Arora, chairperson of the Covid working group NTAGI, said that the massive surge in Covid-19 case numbers in the country indicates a “third wave”, India reported 37,379 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 3.24%, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday. The Centre on Tuesday asked states and Union territories to review infrastructure preparedness, including re-establishment of field and makeshift facilities, so that they are not found wanting if there is a surge in hospital admissions due to escalation in Covid cases.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) decided on Tuesday to impose a “weekend curfew” in the national capital, even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BJP leader Manoj Tiwari tested positive for Covid-19. Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also tested Covid positive and has isolated himself at home.

Delhi reported 5,481 new Covid infections in the last 24 hours, pushing the positivity rate to 8.37%, the highest in over seven months. The highest positivity rate was recorded on 17 May at 8.41%. Health Minister Satyendar Jain asserted that the weekend curfew imposed in the city should not be treated as a lockdown. The Delhi government has issued instructions to install Telemetry devices on oxygen tanks of 53 government and private hospitals for smooth running and real-time monitoring of oxygen supply in the national capital.

With Tuesday’s nationwide figures announced by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the country’s Covid-19 case tally has risen to 3,48,08,886. According to Health Ministry, the country has so far reported 1,892 cases of Omicron of which 766 have been recovered. Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of Omicron cases (568), followed by Delhi (382) and Kerala (185).

Mumbai reported 10,860 new Covid cases on Tuesday, and two deaths. With this, the number of active cases in the city stands at 47,476, according to data released by the Bombay municipal corporation on Tuesday evening—834 patients were hospitalised on Tuesday with Covid, with 52 of them being put on oxygen, taking the total number in hospital to 4491, with 1,374 on oxygen. The city’s recovery rate stands at 92%, with doubling rate at 110 days, the BMC said.

West Bengal recorded the highest-ever single day infection of 9,073 Covid-19 cases and 16 fatalities on Tuesday, informed the State health department. West Bengal will now allow domestic flights from Delhi and Mumbai three days a week—Monday, Wednesday and Friday—from 5 January, instead of two days as decided earlier.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that India’s active caseload presently is at 1,71,830, accounts for 1% of the country’s total cases and is currently at 0.49%. The weekly positivity rate is at 2.05$, while the daily positivity rate is at 3.24 per cent. More than 147 crore Covid-19 vaccination doses have been administered so far in India under the Nationwide vaccination drive, informed the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday informed that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has tested positive for Covid-19, is experiencing mild symptoms. “Today Arvind Kejriwal has been found positive. Symptoms are mild. He is in isolation right now and he has appealed to people who have come in contact with him to must go for tests,” Jain said.

Addressing a press conference after the DDMA meeting, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia informed that buses and metro trains will again run at full seating capacity to avoid crowding outside metro stations and at bus stops. “The DDMA has decided to impose a curfew in Delhi on Saturdays and Sundays to curb the Covid-19 surge. All government officials except for those engaged in essential services will work from home. 50% workforce of private offices will work from home,” he said.

Meanwhile, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi on Tuesday cancelled the remaining part of winter vacation from 5-10 January and has asked the faculty members to join duty “with immediate effect”.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said that if the daily Covid-19 cases cross the 20,000 mark, then lockdown will be imposed in the city. “We will have to impose lockdown in Mumbai if daily Covid cases cross the 20,000-mark,” said Pednekar.

In a related development, 60 persons, including 40 students and researchers residing on IIT Kharagpur’s campus, have tested positive for Covid-19, an official said Tuesday.

A report from Lucknow said that as many as 33 medical staff, including doctors, at Medanta hospital in Lucknow have tested positive for Covid-19, the hospital said on Tuesday. Of the 33 new patients, 32 are hospital staff and one is a doctor, working at the emergency ward. All the patients are asymptomatic.

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