The Centre in a letter to states and Union Territories has warned that the Omicron variant is at least three times more transmissible than the Delta variant. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to all states/UTs saying: “Omicron is at least 3 times more transmissible than Delta. Hence, even greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making and strict & prompt containment action are required at the local and district levels.”
“Activate war rooms”, the health secretary has written in the letter to states amid Omicron surge. Meanwhile, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has told the Centre that Covid-19 vaccination for children is not a priority at the moment, sources said.
In a decision taken by one of the NTAGI working groups, it said that children are not at much of a risk and so, Covid-19 vaccination for children is not a priority. The NTAGI working group has conveyed the same to the Centre, the sources said, even as the Union health ministry said on Tuesday that 200 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 12 states and UTs in India so far, out of which 77 patients have recovered or migrated.
The Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday that the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) and NTAGI are deliberating and considering scientific evidences related to vaccination of children. The central government has been regularly reviewing pace and coverage of Covid-19 vaccination and has issued multiple advisories to states and union territories to cover eligible beneficiaries with both doses of Covid-19 vaccine, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply.
A total of 34 cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported in Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, out of which 17 patients have been discharged and the rest of the patients are admitted in other hospitals, informed Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday.
“Out of the Omicron patients who have come to LNJP, 3 cases have been reported, who have no travel history, who did not go abroad,” said the Health Minister in a statement issued today. “The Delhi government has decided that now all the COVID-19 cases that will come up, all of them will undergo genome sequencing. For this we have made adequate arrangements,” he added.
Looking at the rising tally of Omicron cases in the country, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) in its latest bulletin dated 13 December, published on Monday, said that public health measures and investigations are being conducted to look into the new variant.
India reported 5,326 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest in 581 days, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday. With 453 deaths in the last 24 hours, the death toll from the disease has climbed to 4,78,007. As per the ministry, the active caseload in the country now stands at 79,097; the lowest in 574 days. According to the ministry, as many as 8,043 patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally of recovered patients since the beginning of the pandemic to 3,41,95,060. The country’s recovery rate currently stands at 98.40 per cent, which is the highest since March 2020. While the daily positivity rate stands at 0.53 per cent which has been less than 2 per cent for the last 78 days, the weekly positivity rate presently stands at 0.59 per cent which has been less than 1 per cent for the last 37 days. As many as 66.61 crore Covid-19 tests have been conducted so far in the country, stated the ministry. India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has reached 138.35 cr (1,38,34,78,1819), as per the provisional reports till 7 am on Tuesday.