India logs more than 1 lakh Covid-19 cases on second consecutive day, States brace up

Maharashtra tops in the number of infections while followed by West Bengal which has pushed the national capital to the third spot. States have imposed restrictions including partial lockdowns and night curfews to curtail the spread and the Union Health Ministry has been taking stock of the preparedness among the States to handle the situation.

New Delhi: India's Covid-19 infections breached the 1 lakh figure for the second consecutive day with Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi accounting for most of the cases. The rise in infections is met with restrictions including partial lockdowns and night curfews imposed by the States.

Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary on Friday reviewed the preparedness status of oxygen infrastructure including PSA plants, ventilators, oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders with States/UTs.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and International Trade (DPIIT) also announced the establishment of help desks and control rooms to help domestic industry, while a separate Covid-19 help desk to help the foreign industry has also been incorporated.

Maharashtra reported 40,925 new cases and 20 deaths today with the Omicron cases at 876. The economic capital Mumbai reported 20,971 new cases, 6 deaths and 8,490 recoveries today.

With these statistics, Maharashtra has the highest tally in Covid and Omicron cases across the nation, followed by West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) was on Friday forced to shut its office for three days after 15 of its staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal said, "there is no immediate need for imposing lockdown or additional restrictions in Mumbai as the bed occupancy rate, oxygen requirement and number of COVID-19 deaths are low."

West Bengal reported 18,213 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, 2,792 more than the previous day, raising the tally to 17,11,957. The death toll mounted to 19,864 with 18 more fatalities.

The national capital Delhi recorded a total of 17,335 fresh Covid cases marking its highest tally since May 8. With nine deaths recorded today, the positivity rate here has mounted to 17.73 per cent. Meanwhile, the Delhi health department asked all government hospitals to cancel all staff leaves, while the police authorities reported 200 FIRs registered and 683 challans issued for violations of Covid appropriate behaviour during the night curfew imposed across the city.

The state has also given a green flag to the booster dose vaccination. The schedule for booster dose vaccination will be put up on January 8, whereas the vaccination with onsite appointments will start on January 10.

Tamil Nadu reported 8,981 new cases and 8 deaths, while the active cases have reached the 30,817 mark.

The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 7,97,715 on Friday with the detection of 1,319 cases, while one death took the toll to 10,536

Rajasthan recorded 3,300 fresh today, with two deaths in the last 24 hours. Jaipur accounted for a maximum of 1,527 new cases.

Kerala reported 5,296 new Covid cases and 35 deaths today, with the death tally in the state now at 49,305.

Karnataka reported 8,449 new cases, while its Omicron tally stands at 333 with 107 fresh cases.

Himachal Pradesh also recorded 574 fresh COVID-19 cases - the biggest single-day jump in several months - taking the infection tally in the state to 2,30,859,

Assam reported 1,167 new cases, 2 deaths, and a positivity rate of 3.32%, in the last 24 hours. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the COVID-19 patients who fall under the BPL category will be provided free of cost treatment by the Assam Government.

Odisha reported 2,703 new COVID-19 cases, the biggest single-day spike in 6 months. All colleges, universities, technical educational institutions except for medical colleges in the state shall remain closed from Jan 10 as declared by the Odisha Govt.

Jharkhand reported 3,825 new cases and 8 deaths with the total active cases tally at 17,206. The state government has authorities to keep a strict vigil on the situation, ensure proper treatment of the affected people, besides monitoring the condition of patients undergoing home isolation, as informed by a top official on Friday.

Goa on Friday reported 1,432 COVID-19 cases, with the positivity rate reaching 21.72 per cent, along with two deaths. The active cases in Goa now stand at 5,93. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant declared on Friday that there will be no night curfew in Goa for the moment but gatherings with more than 100 people in open spaces have been banned.

A total of 5,396 persons were detected with COVID-19 in the last 24 hours in Gujarat, taking the state's tally to 8,50,252, while the toll reached 10,128 due to one death during this period in Surat. The High Court of Gujarat has shifted to virtual mode, in view of rising COVID19 cases and will continue to do so till further orders.

Chandigarh reported 390 new cases and 8 deaths today, with the positivity rate at 10.7 per cent and active cases at 1,323. 18,459 children in the 15-18 age group are vaccinated today in the state.

Jammu and Kashmir registered 542 fresh COVID-19 cases, with one death. Complete restriction of non-essential movement imposed in Reasi district between 9 pm-6 am has been imposed.