'At the current time, we should be vaccinating all those who are potentially going to get more severe illness, before we start vaccinating very young individuals.'
States should ensure a weekly positivity rate of less than 5 per cent, vaccination coverage of at least 70 per cent among the vulnerable section, and community ownership of Covid-appropriate behaviour, reports Ruchika Chitravanshi.
Local trains will be allowed to operate with 50 per cent capacity till 7 pm, while all shopping malls and markets will be allowed to remain open till 10 pm but with half their capacities, he said.
In view of a persistent rise in COVID-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Tuesday ordered that there will be no public celebrations in the national capital for upcoming festivals such Holi and Navaratri. Considering the rise in COVID-19 cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also announced that Holi celebrations, on March 28 and 29, will not be permitted in both private or public places.
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Three big cities in the country -- Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru -- witnessed huge spike in daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday even as Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain claimed hospital admissions have stabilised indicating the current coronavirus wave peaked and cases may start declining soon.
'Patient under home isolation will end home isolation after 17 days of onset of symptoms (or date of sampling, for pre-symptomatic cases) and no fever for 10 days. There is no need for testing after the home isolation period is over,' the revised guidelines stated.
The test - called the Truenat Beta CoV test - effectively enables same-day testing, reporting, and patient isolation initiation.
Laxmi Sorte and Kaustav Ghosh are on a 101-day road trip across India to support and encourage local businesses affected by the pandemic.
The ICMR is working on a war footing to develop the testing ecosystem -- especially for the screening blood tests. NIV, Pune, is in the process of validating antibody-based screening kits.
The pandemic is set to become even more challenging, with migrant workers returning home, relaxations in lockdown rules, and the approaching monsoon. However, states are looking at community participation to ramp up testing and home treatment of patients
Wankhede is set to host 10 IPL games this season from April 10-25. The first match at the Mumbai stadium is slated to be played on April 10 between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings.
It said clinical trials of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) showed that it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
The government has ordered that no school in Delhi will hire any transport vehicle of any kind without police verification of its owner and the crew.
The Gam-COVID-Vac, called Sputnik V, is a two-part vaccine that includes two adenovirus vectors -- recombinant human adenovirus type 26 (rAd26-S) and recombinant human adenovirus type 5 (rAd5-S).
'Mortality or hospitalisation has not increased in South Africa because of the new variant.' 'There is nothing to show so far that it is more infectious.' 'I am of the opinion that at the moment, there is no reason to panic.'
Within two weeks of many airlines deciding to roll back salary cuts encouraged by a steady increase in traffic flow, a second wave of coronavirus along with rules of compulsory RT-PCR test has hit forward bookings. The fears of last summer, when the pandemic had overturned all the wisdom of airline boardrooms, have returned to haunt the aviation industry. According to an official in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, flight occupancy is down to 60 per cent from 70 per cent in the first week of March. Airline lobby group IATA estimates that low cost airlines need to fly at 80 per cent occupancy to be profitable.
The T20 Challenge, to be played during the IPL play-offs, will begin with last year's finalist Supernovas taking on Velocity in the opening game.
Large moves in equity and in currency are expected during March settlement.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh, has lashed out against the Yogi Adityanath dispensation in its handling of the second wave, saying it has ceased to act as a protector and support system for the people in the state.
There were no immediate reports of any loss of life or damage to property.
One thing is clear, that anyone can be infected, Milind wrote. 'Even if you have had the vaccine,' he pointed out.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said one of the major reasons for the surge in cases was people becoming lax towards following COVID-appropriate behaviour and urged them take up mass awareness campaigns to re-instill the importance of such measures among the masses.
The latest macro-data from India is disquieting
After a long hiatus of more than 20 months, the government had on November 26 announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from December 15.
In a review meeting by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, these states and the union territory were asked to continue with rigorous vigil so as to contain the spread of infection as well as take steps to reduce fatalities.
The remarks by the court came while dismissing the bail pleas in three cases of former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, who allegedly abused his "muscle power" and "political clout" to foment communal violence.
Covid deaths at home, on the way to hospital or in private centres are not being counted in Bihar's official list of dead.
The market is clinging to support above the 8,000 mark and hitting resistance above 8,150.
Most investors find it very hard to understand when markets have over-extended themselves and look for data points to understand when a correction is due.
With 200 MPs out of 785 above the age of 65, there is a serious shadow of COVID-19 looming over the monsoon session Of Parliament.
The May Nifty option chain and the three-month Nifty chains offer several signals worth noting.
The Uber cab driver, who had allegedly raped a 27-year-old woman in Delhi on Friday night in his taxi, was planning to flee to Nepal before the police arrested him in the nick of time from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.
'Your body will be able to deal with Omicron at any time, but it depends (on when) if you are vaccinated.'
A coronavirus positive woman allegedly managed to give the slip to authorities in New Delhi after her arrival from London and reached Andhra Pradesh by train only to be picked up by authorities and admitted to a hospital.
'You can still acquire the COVID-19 virus even if you are vaccinated.' 'But if you develop the disease, (after being vaccinated) the likelihood is that it will be mild.' 'It just makes sense to continue to take precautions, because you may be around a lot of unvaccinated people.'
'In the second wave, probably due to the mutants, probably due to COVID-19-inappropriate behaviour, we are seeing it coming in the younger population, say from ages 30 to 50.' 'Also, we've seen that sometimes they deteriorate pretty rapidly and therefore we may need to keep a closer watch on the symptoms and on the oxygen levels at home.'
'But to see the effects of that, it will take a week or two more.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
A logjam on the GST front could turn things upside down and turmoil in Gujarat might also have an adverse impact
