Omicron in India: Cordelia Cruises ship turns Covid cluster, precautionary vaccine soon. 5 updates
The Ministry of Health confirmed on January 4 that India's Omicron tally has now reached 1,892. In an interview with India Today, Dr NK Arora of India's Covid task force said that the vaccine for precautionary doses will be announced soon.
India has not yet reported any deaths due to Omicron.
Here are the latest updates:
1. INDIA HAS 1,892 OMICRON CASES IN TOTAL NOW
Here's the state and UT-wise break-up:
Maharashtra - 568
Delhi - 382
Kerala - 185
Rajasthan - 174
Gujarat - 152
Tamil Nadu - 121
Telangana - 67
Karnataka - 64
Haryana - 63
Odisha - 37
West Bengal - 20
Andhra Pradesh - 17
Madhya Pradesh - 9
Uttar Pradesh - 8
Uttrakhand - 8
Goa - 5
Chandigarh - 3
Jammu and Kashmir - 3
Andaman and Nicobar Islands - 2
Himachal Pradesh - 1
Ladakh - 1
Manipur - 1
Punjab - 1
2. SCHOOLS SHUT IN MUMBAI FOR CLASSES 1-9
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has announced that schools will remain closed till January 31 for Classes 1 to 9 and 11 in Mumbai. No such announcment has been made for Classes 10 and 12, and they will continue to attend school in-person.
Amid rise in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, all schools for classes 1 to 9 and 11 to remain shut till January 31: Civic official
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 3, 2022
3. RT-PCR KIT TO TEST OMICRON APPROVED BY ICMR
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approved an RT-PCR kit to detect Omicron on December 30. The kit is manufactured by Tata Medical and Diagnostics and is named OmiSure. As of now, the RT-PCR kit that is being used to detect the Omicron variant in India is developed by US-based scientific instrumentation company Thermo Fisher. (READ MORE HERE: ICMR approves first kit to detect Omicron – Tata’s OmiSure)
4. CENTRE TO ANNOUNCE VACCINE FOR PRECAUTIONARY DOSE SOON
Dr NK Arora, Chief of the country's Covid task force told India Today in an interview that the government will likely be announcing vaccines for a 'precautionary dose' in two days. Arora said, "90 per cent of us have got Covishield and 10 per cent of adults have got Covaxin. There are pros and cons to taking the same dose. This is a precautionary dose. The purpose of taking a precautionary dose is to strengthen the protection of the frontline workers and healthcare workers and those above 60 with comorbidities. This is also to be differentiated from the booster dose. In view of all this, a comprehensive view is being taken and hence it will be announced what will be the precautionary dose for both these categories."
5. 66 PEOPLE ONBOARD CORDELIA CRUISE TEST POSITIVE, NONE TAKEN TO ISOLATION WARD
The Cordelia Cruises ship (you may remember this cruise from the Aryan Khan drugs bust case) has turned Covid cluster with 66 positive cases. The Mumbai-Goa cruise ship has not been allowed to dock in Goa, and is now returning to Mumbai. 66 people out of the 2,000 on board the ship have tested positive. On January 2, a crew member tested positive, following which, samples of everyone aboard the ship were collected. 66 returned positive.
#JustIn | 66 passengers test positive on Mumbai-Goa cruise ship. India today's @saurabhv99 joins in with details. #India #Mumbai #Goa #Covid19 #CovidSurge #MumbaiGoaCruise #CovidCases pic.twitter.com/N1Mx3ZbQJ0
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) January 3, 2022
None of the positive passengers have been taken to the isolation ward in Goa, and the ones who tested negative have not been allowed to leave the ship. As of now, all Covid-19 positive and negative tested passengers are on the ship.