Omicron Coronavirus Cases News Highlights 13 December 2021: 2 more Omicron cases in Maha; India tally 40

Omicron variant live updates: All their contacts have tested negative

Omicron variant live updates: Maharashtra: Both patients are stable and fully vaccinated. They have a travel history to Dubai

Omicron variant live updates: Two new cases have found to be infected with Omicron, according to a report released today by the National Institute of Virology, 1 case is from Latur and 1 from Pune

Coronavirus Live Updates: Russia backs down from unpopular Covid-19 restrictions

Russian authorities on Monday backed away from introducing some of the restrictions for the unvaccinated that were announced a month ago and elicited public outrage all across the vast country where vaccine uptake remains low.The speaker of the State Duma, Russia's lower parliament house, on Monday announced the withdrawal of a bill restricting access to domestic and international flights and trains to those who have been fully vaccinated, have recently recovered from COVID-19 or are medically exempt from vaccination. The bill, along with another outlining similar restrictions in many public places, had been expected to go through the first reading on Thursday, but speaker Vyacheslav Volodin cited “a joint decision by the State Duma and the government” to withdraw it from the parliament's agenda for now. The other bill is still going forward. “We need to be balanced when working out these decisions so that the opinion of the people is taken into account,” Volodin said. (AP)

Coronavirus in Karnataka: 236 new cases, 7 deaths in Karnataka

Karnataka on Monday recorded 236 new cases of COVID-19 and 7 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 30,00,671 and death toll to 38,268. The day also saw 321 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,55,138. Of 236 new cases reported today, 121 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 188 discharges and 4 deaths. Total number of active cases in the state is at 7,236. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.29 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 2.96 per cent.Of 7 deaths reported on Monday, 4 are from Bengaluru Urban and one each from Ballari, Belagavi and Kolar. Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 121, Kodagu 35, Dakshina Kannada 19, Mysuru 13, Hassan 10, followed by others. Bengaluru Urban district now has a total of 12,59,025 positive cases, while Mysuru has 1,80,059 and Tumakuru 1,21,209. Among discharges, Bengaluru Urban is at the top with 12,37,124, followed by Mysuru 1,77,420 and Tumakuru 1,19,936, according to a health department bulletin. Cumulatively a total of 5,46,55,864 samples have been tested in the state so far, of which 80,217 were tested on Monday alone. (PTI)

Coronavirus Live Updates: Nashik reports 30 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death, 33 recoveries

The COVID-19 count in Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 4,12,927 with an addition of 30 new cases on Monday, while one more patient succumbed to the infection, health department officials said. The fresh death took the toll in the district to 8,738, they said. Also, 33 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, pushing the number of recoveries to 4,03,859, the officials said. As many as 29,44,680 swab samples have been tested till date, 6,837 of them during the day, they added. (PTI)

Coronavirus Live Updates: Delhi govt may clamp restrictions in view of Christmas, New Year

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his government will impose restrictions, if required, as regards Christmas and New Year celebrations to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 even as he maintained that currently, there is no need for any such measures. He said the Delhi government is fully prepared to deal with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and he is in constant touch with experts over the issue. Delhi has so far reported two Omicron cases. It reported the first such case on December 5 when a 37-year-old fully-vaccinated man, who arrived in the city from Tanzania, tested positive for Omicron. The second case was reported last week when a fully-vaccinated individual with a travel history to Zimbabwe and South Africa tested positive for the new Covid variant. "If need be, we will impose restrictions. At present, these is no need for restrictions. We are in constant touch with experts and if any restriction is to be imposed for the safety of the people of Delhi, we will do that," Kejriwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event where he launched the "Dilli Ki Yogshala" initiative. Asked about possible restrictions or crowd-control measures in view of Christmas and New Year, he said, "We will do that after consulting with experts. If there is a need to clamp restrictions, we will take a decision in accordance with the suggestions of the experts." The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said he has been closely monitoring the situation in the aftermath of the detection of the new coronavirus variant and adequate arrangements, including those related to hospital beds and medicines, will be made available. "The government is fully prepared. I have convened multiple review meetings regarding oxygen supply, beds and medicines. We do not want an Omicron crisis in Delhi but even if it comes, we are prepared," he said. The chief minister had reviewed the Omicron situation in the national capital at a meeting last week and said his government has readied 30,000 Covid beds and the number could be further scaled up to 64,000 on a two-week notice. (PTI)

Coronavirus Live Updates: Ghana's main airport to fine airlines if they bring unvaccinated passengers

The operator of Ghana's main international airport will fine airlines $3,500 for every passenger they bring in that is not vaccinated against COVID-19 or that tests positive for the coronavirus on arrival, it said on Monday. The rules, announced by Ghana Airports, follow others introduced last week by the health ministry that require all people entering Ghana to be vaccinated. They come into effect for the Kotoka International Airport in the capital Accra on Tuesday. The requirements are some of the strictest in Africa where vaccine uptake has been slow due to lack of supply and logistical challenges, and come as the new Omicron variant raises concerns about quicker transmission of the virus. Ghana, one of West Africa's largest economies that runs on exports of cocoa, gold and oil, has so far vaccinated a little over 5% of its population of 30 million, data compiled by Reuters showed. Its health service has recorded 131,412 infections and 1,239 deaths from COVID-19, according to the data. Over the last two weeks, COVID-19 cases recorded at Kotoka airport accounted for about 60% of total infections in the country, the health service said on Friday. (Reuters)

Coronavirus Live Updates: FIR against Mumbai music concert organiser for violating COVID-19 norms

Police have registered an FIR against the organiser of singer AP Dhillon's live concert at a luxury hotel here for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols, an official said on Monday, an action coming in the midst of growing concern over the new Omicron variant. The show was held at the hotel in suburban Santacruz (East) on Sunday. According to the official, the FIR was registered against one Siddhesh Khodaskar, who had organised the event, at the Vakola police station on Sunday night. Soon after the concert started in the evening, videos of the event went viral on social media and a police team reached the hotel to check if COVID-19 norms were being followed. The police team found the norms put in place to check the spread of coronavirus were being flouted and the venue was also overcrowded, the official said. The police took suo motu (on its own) cognizance of the matter and lodged the FIR under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease danger­ous to life), and also relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act, he said. It has come into light that the organiser had taken all the required permissions from the Mumbai civic body BMC for the concert, but did not follow the guidelines formulated for such gatherings, the official said. Further investigation was underway. The emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Africa last month has fuelled fresh worries about the pandemic. Till December 12, Maharashtra had reported 18 cases of Omicron, classified as a 'variant of concern' by the WHO. (PTI)

Coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh Live Updates: Andhra Pradesh sees sharp slide in Covid-19 mortality rate

Andhra Pradesh slipped to the 31st position in the country in Covid-19 mortality rate, which now stood at 0.70 per cent, as the number of deaths due to the infection witnessed a drastic fall over the weeks. Medical and Health Department data revealed that only 40 Covid-19 deaths were reported in the state in the last three weeks but Krishna district alone accounted for 21 of them. "At one point, our state was ranked number 5 or 6 in Covid-19 mortality but subsequently the ranking fell to 10 and further to 20 and now to 31," a senior official of the Health Department said. The Department data also showed a decline in the overall infection positivity rate from 0.64 per cent to 0.52 per cent in the last two weeks. The average number of daily positives now came down to 163 in the week ending December 12. The cumulative positivity rate now stood at 6.74 per cent after a total of 3.07 crore sample tests. The gross recovery rate remained at 99.21 per cent. The percentage of active coronavirus cases in the state is now 0.09, as per the data. The active caseload is now 1,878. According to the day's bulletin, the state reported 108 fresh positives, 141 recoveries and one death in 24 hours ending 9 AM on Monday. Krishna district reported the lone death in a day. The gross positives has now touched 20,74,976, recoveries 20,58,631 and deaths 14,467. In 24 hours, Chittoor district registered 36, Visakhapatnam 20 and East Godavari 17 fresh infections while the remaining 10 districts added less than 10 each, with Kurnool and Vizianagaram reporting zero cases. The weekly positivity rate increased from 1.04 to 1.17 per cent in Visakhapatnam district while it decreased from 2.44 to 1.68 per cent in Guntur. Anantapuramu showed a marginal rise from 0.32 to 0.46 per cent and West Godavari from 0.83 to 0.86 per cent but the remaining nine districts registered a significant decline. (PTI)