Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary reviews the preparedness status of oxygen infrastructure including PSA plants, oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders, ventilators with States/UTs, reports ANI
7-day home quarantine compulsory for all international passengers arriving in Kerala
Laying out its strategy to fight the COVID-19 spread as the highly contagious Omicron variant was mostly detected in air travellers from foreign countries, Kerala's health department on Friday decided to make it compulsory for all international passengers arriving in the state to undergo seven days home quarantine.
All int'l travellers to go for 7-day home quarantine on arrival in India
India on Friday revised the existing guidelines for all international arrivals in India in view of the rising Covid cases and the Omicron threat, to make seven days home quarantine mandatory.
The new guidelines will be effective from January 11 till further notice.
Health workers in Covid wards to continue working: Delhi hospital
A Central government-run Delhi hospital has directed its healthcare workers to continue working even if they are exposed to Covid-positive patients.
"Anyone who is exposed to a positive case of SARS-COV-2 will have to continue working with a tight fitted N-95 mask and maximum possible social distancing, preferably more than one metre, irrespective of degree of exposure", said the notice issued by Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital.
Brazil: Sao Paulo cancels Carnival street parades amid soaring COVID-19 cases
Brazil's largest city of Sao Paulo has cancelled Carnival street parades following an increase in Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations fuelled by the Omicron variant, Mayor Ricardo Nunes announced.
Australia reports record number of Covid cases for 5th straight day
For a fifth consecutive day, Australia on Friday reported a record number of daily Covid-19 cases amid an unabated resurgence fuelled by the Omicron variant, according to health authorities. With more than 78,000 Covid cases, the country's overall infection tally increased to 762,458, reports Xinhua news agency.
Six of Australia's eight states and territories reported record numbers of infections on Friday, with Victoria and Western Australia the only exceptions.
India to achieve historical feat of administering 1.5 billion COVID vaccine doses today: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the country will achieve the historical feat of administering 1.5 billion COVID vaccine doses in less than a year, today.
Japan approves new restrictions for areas hard hit by COVID
Japan approved new restrictions on Friday to curb a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the three most affected southwestern regions of Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima.
Britain: No COVID-19 test required for fully vaccinated travelers for entry
Pre-departure tests for vaccinated travelers arriving UK will be eliminated from Friday, while people who test positive using rapid home kits will no longer be required to take PCR tests to confirm the result from January 11.
COVID-19: India reports 1,17,100 fresh cases, 302 deaths in last 24 hours
India reported 1,17,100 fresh COVID cases, 30,836 recoveries, and 302 deaths in the last 24 hours.
New Covid variant detected in France not a threat yet: WHO
The new Covid-19 variant called B.1.640, which was detected by French researchers and is probably of Cameroonian origin, is not "circulating widely at the moment" and has so far been identified in less than 1 per cent of the samples sequenced in France, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Omicron may be less severe, but not 'mild', warns WHO
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to be a less severe disease than the Delta strain, but it does not mean it should be categorized as "mild", World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.
Argentina sees record 109,608 new daily Covid cases
Argentina saw a record number of daily cases of Covid-19, registering 109,608 infections in 24 hours, for a total caseload of 6,025,303, the Health Ministry has said on Thursday.
Italy's daily Covid cases top 200,000 for 1st time
For the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, Italy registered over 200,000 daily cases amid an ongoing resurgence fuelled by the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, according to health authorities.
With Agency Inputs
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