Fewer cases in India, Omicron hits East Europe again

After a significant drop in Covid cases, India has reported a marginal rise in Covid cases on Tuesday. The country has reported 30,615 fresh Covid cases over the past 24 hours. The country’s daily positivity rate is 2.45% as per Health Ministry data.

5 latest updates on Covid-19:

1. INDIA’S COVID NUMBERS

India has logged 30,615 fresh Covid numbers in the last 24 hours. The country has recorded less than 1 lakh cases in a single day for 10 consecutive days.

514 people succumbed to the virus yesterday.

The country’s weekly positivity rate stands at 3.32%.

12,51,677 Covid tests were conducted and 82,988 people have recovered from the virus in India on February 15.

#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive#OmicronVariant ????? ?????https://t.co/OFuDEHLVxE pic.twitter.com/Uednrh1HCt

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) February 16, 2022

2. CASELOAD IN DIFFERENT STATES

The top 5 states which have reported maximum Covid cases over the past 24 hours are:

Kerala: 11,776 cases

Maharashtra: 2,831 cases

Mizoram: 1,616 cases

Karnataka: 1,405 cases

Rajasthan: 1,387 cases

Photo: India Today

3. COVID RESTRICTIONS IN DIFFERENT STATES

Assam: The Assam government has decided to withdraw all Covid-19 restrictions including Covid testing, night curfew and others. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the same on Twitter.

#AssamCovidUpdate GoA shall withdraw all #COVID19 compulsory testing facilities at airports, rly stations and hospitals wef Feb 15. Also, all restrictions incl night curfew, social-religious gatherings including other curbs shall stand withdrawn. Detailed notification on Feb 14

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 13, 2022

Bihar: Similarly, the Bihar government has lifted all Covid restrictions. The Chief Minister has also urged people to follow Covid-safe behaviour.

कोरोना संक्रमण की वर्तमान स्थिति की आज समीक्षा की गई। कोरोना संक्रमण में लगातार आ रही कमी को देखते हुए 14 फरवरी से अगले आदेश तक सभी प्रकार के प्रतिबंधों को हटा लिया गया है। (1/3)

— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) February 12, 2022

Other states: The government of Sikkim lifted Covid restrictions on February 11. Other states including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh have lifted most Covid restrictions. The state government will take further decisions according to the current Covid situation.

Illustration: Seemon, DailyO

4. ZERO COVID DEATHS IN MUMBAI

For the first time since January 3, Mumbai has reported zero Covid-related deaths. On Tuesday, Mumbai logged 235 fresh Covid cases and zero deaths as per the data available. Earlier, on January 2, no fresh fatalities were reported in the city.

This is the second time in 2022 when no deaths linked to Covid has been recorded.

5. OMICRON RISE IN EAST EUROPE

The World Health Organization has warned against the new Omicron wave in east Europe.

“Over the past two weeks, cases of Covid-19 have more than doubled in six countries in this part of the region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine),” WHO’s Europe regional director Hans Kluge said on Tuesday.

The global health body has asked authorities to improve vaccination and other measures. The WHO official has also emphasised that it is not the moment to lift measures.