India reports 13,154 new Covid cases, Omicron tally reaches 961

TB Team
-
0
India reports 13,154 new Covid cases, Omicron tally reaches 961

In the last 24 hours, India registered 13,154 new Covid-19 cases and 268 deaths, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

With the addition of the new fatalities, the total death toll has climbed at 4,80,860.

Meanwhile, the Omicron infection tally has climbed at 961 across the nation, of 320 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

A total of 22 states have reported detected the new variant, the Ministry confirmed.

Meanwhile, the recovery of 7,486 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,42,58,778. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.38 per cent.

India’s active caseload is 82,402, which account for 0.24 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.

Also in the same period, a total of 11,99,252 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the total tally to 67.64 crore.

The weekly positivity rate at 0.76 per cent has remained less than 1 per cent for the last 46 days now.

The daily positivity rate at 1.10 per cent has also remained below 2 per cent for last 87 days and less than 3 per cent for 122 consecutive days now.

With the administration of 63,91,282 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid inoculation coverage reached 143.83 crore as of Thursday morning.

More than 16.93 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs, said the Ministry.

Afghanistan lacks equipment to detect Omicron variant

TB Team
-
0
Afghanistan lacks equipment to detect Omicron variant

The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan said that the country does not have equipment to detect Omicron, adding that it has asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide testing machines for the new fast-spreading Covid-19 variant.

Both Pakistan and Iran, the two countries that share borders with Afghanistan, have confirmed cases of the new variant, reports TOLO News.

“Omicron is not distinguishable by the PCR machines that we have now, it requires more developed machinery. We have contacted the WHO and they have promised to provide these machines for us by the end of January 2022,” Javed Hazher, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, health workers have said that the fight against the virus should not be ignored as Afghanistan is struggling with economic and political challenges.

They added that that neglecting the pandemic will lead to many people to be infected with the Omicron variant.

“The economy and political problems caused Covid-19 to be ignored and not taken seriously. A crisis will happen if we do not face the latest wave of the coronavirus triggered by the Omicron variant,” said Ahmad Jawad Fardeen, a doctor.

According to WHO figures, Afghanistan has so far registered 157,998 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 7,355 deaths, while a total of 4,674,518 vaccine doses have been administered.

India may see ‘short-lived’ Covid third wave soon: Cambridge tracker

TB Team
-
0
India may see ‘short-lived’ Covid third wave soon: Cambridge tracker

A Covid-19 tracker, developed by UK’s University of Cambridge, has predicted that India may soon see an intense but short-lived virus wave “within days”, even as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid is spreading like wildfire in the country with over 780 cases reported on Wednesday.

The tracker had aptly predicted the devastating second wave in May and had also forecast in August that India would see a slow burn in its Covid infections.

“It is likely that India will see a period of explosive growth in daily cases and that the intense growth phase will be relatively short,” Paul Kattuman, Professor at the Judge Business School at the varsity was quoted as saying to Bloomberg.

“New infections will begin to rise in a few days, possibly within this week,” he said. However, he added that it was hard to predict how high the daily cases could go.

The tracker showed a sharp rise in infection rates in six states as a “significant concern” in a December 24 note, and this expanded to 11 Indian states by December 26, the report said.

The rapid spread of Omicron infection has contributed to the total tally of Covid infection in India. The country’s overall Covid cases tally crossed the 9,000-mark on Wednesday and currently stands at 9,195 cases. However, the overall tally has been around 7,000 in the last week.

According to the Union Health Ministry update, the Omicron infection has so far spread into 21 states and Union Territories.

Out of the 238 Omicron cases detected in Delhi, 57 of them have been discharged. Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, West Bengal have reported Omicron cases in two-digit figures, the data showed.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its weekly epidemiological update has warned that the risk posed by the Omicron variant is still “very high”. Omicron is behind rapid virus spikes in several countries, including those where it has already overtaken the previous dominant Delta variant, said the global health body in its weekly bulletin.

Agitating Delhi doctors to continue protest till FIRs are withdrawn

TB Team
-
0
Agitating Delhi doctors to continue protest till FIRs are withdrawn

The resident doctors on Wednesday continued their protest in support of their demands, including the withdrawal of the FIRs filed against them.

The meeting between a delegation of the protesting doctors and the Union Health Minister on Tuesday had failed to make any headway.

The resident doctors have been protesting for the past 13 days over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling.

In a statement, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association of India (FORDA), which is leading the protest nationwide, said that the FIR has been filed by the police against the protesting resident doctors. “After discussion with the RDA representatives, it has been decided to continue the agitation till our demands are met,” said the doctors’ association.

A source in the RDA meeting said that all RDAs agreed to call off the strike as the Union Health Minister assured the meeting that the report will be submitted in the court on the next hearing on January 6 and he was hopeful that soon the counselling dates will be announced. But, some of RDA representatives were determined to stretch the protest till the FIRs are withdrawn by the Delhi Police and an apology submitted for their action during Monday’s protest. “However, we all agreed to continue the protest till all our demands are met,” he added.

As the protest, including the withdrawal of all medical and emergency services, entered into 13th day, the patient care has largely been affected across the hospitals in Delhi.

City’s Safdarjung Hospital, which has emerged as the main centre of protest, is running with only senior doctors in the OPD and Emergency services. Amid heavy security personnel deployed in the hospital, junior doctors are boycotting the services. However, doctors are planning to take the protest forward with Covid norms as Delhi has been placed under yellow alert after the Covid spike.

One more tests Omicron positive in Odisha; tally rises to 9

TB Team
-
0
One more tests Omicron positive in Odisha; tally rises to 9

One more person has tested Omicron positive in Odisha, taking the total number of cases in the state to nine, officials said here on Wednesday.

A 31-year-old man, who has returned from Dubai, tested positive for Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The infected man’s health condition is stable and is now under treatment in a hospital, said State Director, Health Services, Bijay Mohapatra.

He returned to Odisha from Dubai via Kolkata on December 16. At that time, he had tested Covid negative, Mohapatra informed.

However, after one day, he got a fever and tested RT-PCR positive. So, his sample was sent for genome sequencing, where he was found Omicron positive, Mohapatra said.

Mohapatra suspected that the person might have been exposed to the virus during the travel period.

“Close contact of the person, his parents, have tested negative. However, we will again test them during the incubation period. If they test Covid positive, we will conduct genome sequencing of their samples,” the director further informed.

So far, nine Omicron cases have been detected in Odisha. All are foreign returnees and one of them has already tested negative.

Meanwhile, Odisha reported 221 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 10,54,381. With this, the State’s active caseload rose to 1,593.

The State government has also confirmed two more deaths due to Covid after an audit. So far, 8,457 persons have died due to the virus in the state.

TN: 45 Omicron cases, 118 more samples have S-gene drop

TB Team
-
0
TN: 45 Omicron cases, 118 more samples have S-gene drop

The Tamil Nadu health department is gearing up for the possibility of an Omicron surge in the state with 45 confirmed cases and 118 samples of Covid-19 positive people showing presence of S-gene drop.

State health minister Ma Subramanian has already directed the health department to create awareness among people and strictly abide by Covid protocols as studies have shown less mask compliance in the state.

He also instructed the health officials to jack up infrastructure for all eventuality. Sources in the health department told IANS, with schools and colleges functioning, the concerned corporations, municipalities, and village panchayats have been directed to convert wedding halls, theatres and convention halls to health camps if need arises.

Subramanian told IANS: “There is a possibility of rise in cases but the state health department and the administration is ready for that. The Chief Minister has already given us directions in this regard and we are in direct communication with the Union health ministry to tackle any untoward situation.”

The minister also urged the people to conduct parties at their homes on New Year eve rather than venturing out given the situation related to the surge in Omicron cases.

However, hotel and restaurant owners of Chennai said that most of the hotels are fully booked and a large number of people from Bengaluru, other towns of Karnataka and all other South Indian states, have arrived in large numbers in Chennai and Coimbatore to celebrate New Year.

Most of the Five-star hotels in Chennai have announced unlimited liquor and performance by various national and international bands as part of the New Year celebrations.

A hotelier on condition of anonymity told in interview: “We will comply by the December 15 directive of the state government wherein there were no restrictions and we had taken bookings and made all arrangements for the big event and almost all the guests have arrived. How can we now go back on this? We will adhere to strict Covid-19 restrictions and move ahead unless the government issues an order against the same. If the government issues an order then we will immediately put a full stop to the celebrations.”

Global Covid caseload tops 282.7 mn

TB Team
-
0
Global Covid caseload tops 282.7 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 282.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.41 million and vaccinations to over 9.02 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 282,776,134 and 5,413,836, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 9,027,898,645.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 53,170,421 and 820,708, according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,799,691 infections and 480,290 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,259,270 infections and 618,978 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (12,406,690), Russia (10,258,052), Turkey (9,367,369), France (9,430,829), Germany (7,059,396), Iran (6,188,857), Spain (6,032,297), Italy (5,756,412), Argentina (5,514,207) and Colombia (5,132,277), the CSSE figures showed.

The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Russia (299,983), Mexico (298,819), Peru (202,524), the UK (148,488), Indonesia (144,071), Italy (136,955), Iran (131,474), Colombia (129,833), France (124,174), Argentina (117,085) and Germany (110,994).

Mamata won Bengal because she campaigned from a wheelchair: Athawale

TB Team
-
0
Mamata won Bengal because she campaigned from a wheelchair: Athawale

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee managed to secure a majority in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, because she met with an accident and campaigned from a wheel-chair, Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale said here on Tuesday.

The Union Minister of State who is in Goa, also said that by winning 77 seats in West Bengal, the BJP had not lost the much hyped state assembly polls and neither could Banerjee claim to have won the elections.

“Mamata Banerjee succeeded (in West Bengal). PM and I congratulated her. Those who are victorious in a democracy, must be congratulated. She won a huge success. The reason for this is Mamata Banerjee met with an accident, she was on a wheel chair. After that BJP lost 99 seats by a margin of 500 to 1500-2000 votes,” Athawale told reporters at a press conference in Panaji.

“The reason why BJP won less seats is because the Left Front and Congress there did not get any votes. All the votes went to Mamata Banerjee and TMC and that is why BJP got fewer votes. Otherwise BJP would have won 180-190 seats. BJP now has 77 seats. I feel that it was not BJP’s loss nor was it Mamata’s win,” he also said.

Athawale met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and state BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and later announced the support of the Republican Party of India, which he heads nationally, to the ruling party for the 2022 polls.

“In Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, RPI will align with the BJP. In Goa, RPI will not field a single candidate and will support BJP in all 40 seats. My party’s state committee has taken this decision. BJP should come to power here and RPI will be with the BJP wholeheartedly,” Athawale said.

Kerala Tourism: Towards a resilient and sustainable future

TB Team
-
0
Kerala Tourism: Towards a resilient and sustainable future

Kerala’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism and the sector for the past two years was deeply impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. But the long disruption also gave the state a unique opportunity to re-assess its tourism strategy and explore fresh pathways towards a sustainable future.

Tourism administrators have realised that the road map to the future should be driven by engagement with local communities and supported by policies that raise the profile of domestic attractions with focus on sustainability. The bio-bubble programme of Kerala Tourism and its impetus on total vaccination to make the destinations safe has instilled new confidence in the sector. The state began witnessing an increase in arrival of domestic tourists as a result and the majority of tourism destinations have now achieved set targets.

That Kerala tops the Happiness Index in the recent State of the States Survey 2021 by India Today. This should be seen as an attestation of its special status. Domestic tourists from across India embraced Kerala as their most loved destination in 2021, thanks to the Safe Kerala-Safe Tourism slogan, which seems to have resonated well with them. Kerala Tourism is planning and implementing multiple programmes so that the sector, which is in the path of resurgence, would attain more strength in 2022.

The tourism industry in the state now displays optimism as it walks to embrace the new year with resilience ingrained in its DNA.

One of the major initiatives by Kerala Tourism is the ‘Keravan Tourism’, which envisages promotion of Caravan Tourism in Kerala, predominantly in the private sector, through incentivising the procurement of caravans and establishing caravan parks. The initiative would help turn hitherto unexplored destinations in the state, where accommodation facilities are minimal. The bubble-like nature of the product also makes it endearing for families who are apprehensive about safety of travel during the pandemic.

The department has already embarked on registering caravans and caravan parks and the scheme has been received well. Around 218 caravans have already registered with Kerala Tourism.

The ‘STREET’ project to be implemented in select spots in seven districts by the Responsible Tourism Mission would also give an impetus to village tourism. The STREET is an acronym for Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic, Tourism hubs and would help rural destinations develop their basic infrastructure.

In the initial phase, the project would be implemented in the districts of Kozhikode, Palakkad, Kannur, Kottayam, Kasaragod, Idukki and Wayanad. The project, to be implemented in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, would have local bodies and village residents as stakeholders.

There are also plans to set up food streets to showcase the food diversity of the state. Kerala Tourism is also joining hands with the local self-government department to develop at least one destination in a local body to strengthen domestic tourism. A Destination Challenge programme, aimed at developing historic spots and culturally important locations that tourists may find attractive, has also been launched.

As part of its international marketing strategy, Kerala Tourism is planning to participate in the Trade Fairs and B2B meets in cities like Madrid, Tel Aviv, Milan, Berlin, Paris and Moscow during the year 2022.

We hope that these initiatives would help open up opportunities for local businesses, create new jobs, develop rural infrastructure, and revive traditional art forms, thereby strengthening the economy. Promotion of an agri-tourism network, film tourism and development of niche products like literary tourism and biodiversity circuits are also on the anvil. They also hold the potential to provide new experiences to tourists and increase their length of stay.

German companies mostly optimistic for 2022: Survey

TB Team
-
0
German companies mostly optimistic for 2022: Survey

German companies are mostly optimistic about the coming year despite the Covid-19 pandemic and supply bottlenecks, the German Economic Institute (IW) said.

Most of the country’s trade associations reported an improved business situation compared to the end of 2020 and feel confident about the new year, Xinhua news agency quoted a survey conducted by the IW as saying.

None of the 48 associations surveyed expected a decline in production, and 39 of them even expected production to increase.

After a 4.6 per cent drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 and a projected 2.7 per cent growth in 2021, the German Council of Economic Experts (GCEE), an official advisory body to the government, said it expected GDP to grow by 4.6 per cent in 2022.

The IW survey found that the most of the “pessimists” are companies that have been “severely affected” by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rubber and paper companies, as well as glass and leather industries, have been heavily affected by a shortage of raw materials.

The country’s trade show industry is even worse off than in 2020 and it is “still not foreseeable when the situation will normalize again”, the IW noted.

Many other sectors and industries, such as the services sector and the steel, chemical, metal, mechanical and construction industries, reported an improvement compared to 2020, according to the survey.

Germany’s construction industry in particular has “very good business prospects” as the country’s new government aims to build 400,000 new homes per year, the IW noted.

1...313233...222Page 32 of 222