COVID-19 News Updates

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 65,698,495 and 850,605, according to the CSSE.

The R value of Mumbai was 1.3, Delhi 2.5, Chennai 2.4 and Kolkata 1.6, according to the analysis by IIT Madras' Department of Mathematics and Centre of Excellence for Computational Mathematics and Data Science headed by Prof Neelesh S Upadhye and Prof S Sundar.

According to health ministry officials, over 93 per cent of the adult population have received at least one dose while over 69.8 per cent have been fully vaccinated.

The virus will circulate as an endemic disease, TASS news agency quoted Vujnovic as saying on the Soloviev Live YouTube channel.

Giving the details in a suo motu matter on children in need of care and protection due to loss of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, the national child rights watchdog said its figures are based on data uploaded by States and Union Territories on its 'Baal Swaraj Portal-COVID care' up to January 11, 2022. 

"Know your risk tolerance. Get boosted, wear a KN/N95 mask. If COVID still gets you, you'll likely fully recover," he added.

The active cases comprise 4.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.51 per cent, the ministry said.

Khordha district reported highest 3424 cases of Covid-19 infections, followed by Sundargarh (2136), Cuttack (829), Sambalpur (379), Mayurbhanj (276) and Sonepur (238).

The second worst-hit country in terms of cases is India (36,850,962 infections and 485,752 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,981,851 infections and 621,233 deaths).

Pointing out some important facts about Omicron, health expert Jayant Panda said that the Covid-19 mutant strain remains in throat and does not infect chest, nor does it make a patient serious.

Other hallmarks of the virus such as a runny nose, fever and cough are still just as likely to be experienced by sufferers of the new variant.

Odisha had on Wednesday witnessed its biggest single-day jump (67) in the highly-transmissible Omicron variant of the virus

Mishra said patients suffering from mild to moderate symptoms can stay in home isolation. However, patients who are critical or need oxygen support will have to get admitted, Mishra added.

The study comes at a time when the Omicron variant is spreading like a wildfire across the globe, including India. South Africa has witnessed the fourth wave which is now flattening.

A total of 6,041 Omicron cases has been detected so far, an increase of 5.01 per cent since Friday, the data updated at 8 am showed.