International flights were earlier scheduled to resume from December 15 but now will not resume till January 31.
New Delhi: India in the past 24 hours reported 8,503 fresh covid cases. India’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 3,46,74,744, while the number of active cases rose to 94,943, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll mounted to 4,74,735 with the addition of 624 new fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 43 days now. The number of active cases has increased to 94,943, comprising 0.27 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.36 percent, the highest since March 2020, the Health Ministry said.
The World Health Organisation expressed concerns on Thursday that rich countries, spooked by the emergence of the Omicron variant, could start hoarding Covid-19 vaccines and strain global supplies again, news agency Associated Press reported. The UN health agency, after a meeting of its expert panel on vaccination, reiterated its advice to governments against the widespread use of boosters in their populations so that well-stocked countries instead can send doses to low-income countries that have largely lacked access to them.
International Flights
Regular commercial international flights will not resume till January 31, the government announced on Thursday, amid a global alarm over the new Omicron variant of coronavirus. The ones under the “air bubble” agreements, however, will carry on as before.
International flights were earlier scheduled to resume from December 15. However, with the outbreak of the new ‘Omicron’ variant in several nations, the country has now put brakes on its plans for international flights resumption.
Extending the suspension on international flights till January 31, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular that this restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by it.
Omicron: All 9 patients in Rajasthan test negative, discharged from hospital
All the nine people in Rajasthan who were found infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus were discharged from a government hospital here on Thursday after they tested negative for the infection twice, Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said.
Their reports for blood, CT scan, and all other tests are normal and they have been advised to remain in home quarantine for a week, he said. Dr. Sudhir Bhandari, principal of Sawai Mansingh Medical College, said research on the Omicron variant is currently underway.
“The spread of this variant is rapid but it is not as fatal as the Delta variant,” he said.
In Maharashtra six had tested covid positive with omicron variant. out of those six, four have now been tested negative for covid.
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