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1 ! " #$ % % & ' ( # &) * + $ ,,-& ) * & ! " . / 0 / + / ' ' % * % 1 + 2 & # # # # $%& * 3 4 .. / 0 / 2 % * * % + * ! * % 3 + % 51 1 6+ & 078 97: Densely-populatedMumbai, Delhi andKolkata are witnessing a majorsurge in Covid-19 cases as thecountry battles the initialphase of third wave that threat-ens to infect far more peoplethan the previous two registering 8,063of the fresh infections (27 percent higher than Saturday),Delhi logged 3,191 cases, andKolkata recorded around3,194 cases.

2 India on Sundayreported yet another spike indaily Covid-19 infections with27,553 fresh cases being loggedin the past 24 hours. Infectionshave sharply risen for a fifthconsecutive day. As many as 22,775 newcases were reported onSaturday. On December 20,2021, India had reported 5,326 Covid cases. This has sharplyjumped to breach 27,000 casesas on January 2, by 21 per cent cases onSunday, the total caseload isnow 3,48,89,132. Omicron toofollowed the suit with thenationwide tally of the hyper-mutated variant of coronavirusfurther climbing to 1,525, withMaharashtra topping thecharts with 460 cases.

3 Delhi is the second-mostcontributor of the highly trans-missible Omicron with 351cases, followed by Gujarat(136), Tamil Nadu (117), andKerala (109). Major cities likeRaigarh and Raipur across thecountry have witnessed a surgein their Covid total of 23 states andUnion Territories have report-ed cases of the new variant,namely Telangana, Rajasthan,Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,Haryana, West Bengal,Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,Uttarakhand, Chandigarh,Jammu and Kashmir, UttarPradesh, Goa, HimachalPradesh, Ladakh, Manipur that the rise incases seen globally and Indiacould put stress on healthinfrastructure.

4 Union HealthSecretary Rajesh Bhushan hadon Sunday wrote to the Statesto create additional isolationbeds, makeshift hospitals, fieldhospitals and pediatric careunits. The states have beenasked to follow up with thosein home isolation and gear uptheir control rooms that wouldcoordinate with people requir-ing a bed and an s total caseload ofthe Covid-19 infections havesurged to 3,48,89,132, withactive cases comprising lessthan 1 per cent ( ) of thetotal cases, the Ministry country reported 284 Covid-19 fatalities in the last24 hours, taking the total deathtoll to 4,81,770.

5 This pushedthe active case tally to 1,22,801,according to data from theUnion Health 9,249 people recov-ering from the disease in thelast 24 hours, total recoveriesclimbed to 3,42,84,561. Therecovery rate currently standsat per cent. 078 97: Aday before the launch ofcountrywide exercise tovaccinate millions of childrenaged between 15 and 18 againstCovid-19 with the CoWINplatform till Sunday eveningrecording over six lakh regis-trations, the Centre has cau-tioned the State Governmentsagainst mixing up of shotswith those being given to theadult will be given onlyCovaxin, while the adult pop-ulation of the country is beingadministered Covishield andSputnik V besides doses will be administeredat schools.

6 Hospitals andthrough special camps to beginfrom January a meeting held with theStates online, Union HealthMinister Mansukh Mandaviyaasked them to take necessarymeasures, including setting upseparate vaccination centres, toavoid mixing-up of Covid vac-cines during administrationof shots to those in the 15-18age group. Data on the Cowindashboard showed 3,15,416registrations for this age groupuntil pm appealed toparents to register their eligi-ble children. If the childrenare safe, then the future of thecountry is safe, he began a week after thePrime Minister s announce-ment that Covid-19 vaccina-tion will start January 3 forchildren.

7 To ensure smooth imple-mentation of the guidelines,Mandaviya held an onlineinteraction with HealthMinisters and principal secre-taries and additional chief sec-retaries for health of states andUnion Territories (UTs). He advised them to ensureorientation of vaccinators andvaccination team members forthe inoculation exercise forthose in the 15-18 age groupand for identification of dedi-cated vaccination session sitesfor this category of beneficia-ries, said an official from theHealth Ministry.

8 078 97: Delhi registered 3,194 freshcases of coronavirus onSunday and the positivity raterose to per cent. By allaccounts, this seems to be analarming scenario, experts active caseload in thecity now stands at 8,397,according to the Delhi StateHealth Covid 19 person succumbed to theinfection in the last 24 the media vir-tually, Chief Minister of DelhiArvind Kejriwal said thoughthe number of daily Covid-19cases and active cases areincreasing in the city, there isno need to panic as those arevery mild and do not need hos-pitalisation.

9 Per cent Covid bedsare vacant in Delhi hospitalswhile only per cent havebeen occupied. Patients comingto hospitals not requiring oxy-gen support; 37,000 beds beingprepared to stay ahead of thevirus, he cited the data of theDelhi State health departmentand claimed that despite anincrease in the number of cases,bed occupancy in hospitals iseven lesser than one per cent andis very low as compared to lastyear s deadly second wave ofcoronavirus in April. Active Covid-19 cases rosefrom about 2,000 on December29, 2021, to 6,000 on January1, but the number of patientsin hospitals dipped during thisperiod.

10 On December 29, 2021,as many as 262 beds wereoccupied while on January 1 itwas 247 only, said Kejriwal,adding, On March 27 lastyear, Delhi had 6,600 activecases and 1,150 oxygen bedswere occupied. As many as 145patients were on ventilatorcompared to five now. Currently, the number ofactive cases in the city is 6,360,and today (Sunday) 3,100 newcases are expected to be report-ed. All cases are mild and inmost of the patients don t needhospitalisation, the CM to the DelhiGovernment s database, only 82oxygen beds have been occu-pied; most patients recoveringat home, Only 5 patients onthe ventilator at present while231 were on ventilators inApril 2021, he added.