COVID tally up 35% in a day; vaccine registration for 15-18 age group begins

The country’s count of Omicron positive patients touched 1,431 on Saturday (January 1), a rise of roughly 12% from Friday when the tally was 1270. About 488 people have recovered or migrated.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected with 454 patients, followed by Delhi with 351 patients. A total of 23 states are now affected by the ‘variant of concern’, which was first detected in South Africa in November last year.

On Saturday, the country recorded 22,775 fresh cases — a 35% rise in daily count, the health ministry data revealed. A total of 406 people died of COVID in the past 24 hours. In a day, 8,949 people recovered. Active caseload currently stands at 1,04,781, which is less than 1 per cent of total cases.

The country registered 8,949 recoveries in the last 24 hours taking the total number of recoveries to 3,42,75,312. India’s recovery rate is currently at 98.32 per cent.

Vaccine registration for teens begins

Meanwhile, registration for vaccination against COVID-19 for teens between 15 and 18 years of age started on January 1 on the COWIN portal, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.

The Health Minister urged people to register and support the country’s nationwide vaccination drive. “With the beginning of New Year, registration has started on COWIN portal for immunization of children against #COVID19 in the age group of 15 to 18 years. I request the family members to register the eligible children for vaccination. #SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine,” Mandaviya tweeted.

Vaccination for children in the 15-18 age group will start on January 3.

Also read: Interview: Why Kerala thinks COVID death compensation is a huge burden

State-wise count of Omicron cases

Maharashtra – 454

Delhi – 351

Tamil Nadu – 118

Gujarat – 115

Kerala – 109

Rajasthan – 69

Telangana – 62

Karnataka – 34

Haryana – 37

West Bengal – 17

Madhya Pradesh – 9

Odisha – 14

Andhra Pradesh – 17

Uttarakhand – 4

Chandigarh – 3

Jammu and Kashmir – 3

Andaman & Nicobar Islands 2

Uttar Pradesh 8

Goa 1

Himachal Pradesh 1

Ladakh 1

Manipur 1

Punjab 1