As per the data shared by the ministry, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.74% with 3295 patients having recovered in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative tally of recovered patients to 4,25,73,460. While the weekly positivity rate in the country currently stands at 0.69 percent, the daily positivity rate stands at 0.58 percent, as per the data.

Besides, the health ministry stated that the last 24 hours saw a total of 4,86,628 COVID-19 tests being conducted taking the cumulative tests to over 84.29 crore.

Ilkka Zulkunen said, “I don’t see the possibility that the virus will change so dramatically. I don’t see the coronavirus becoming much less dangerous for at least a few years.”

Although the Omicron coronavirus variant is widely considered less likely to cause severe disease and require hospital treatment, Zulkunen and Olli Vapalahti, professors of zoonotic virology at the University of Helsinki, agree that Omicron is dangerous.

According to Julkunen, in Finland, more people have died from Omicron than all previous coronavirus variants.

Before November 2021, when the Omicron variant emerged, about 1,200 people had died from Covid-19 in Finland. The country’s current coronavirus death toll has crossed 3,000.

The virus can cause mild symptoms in a population that has a high immunity due to vaccination or previous infection.

The number of hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients in Finland has gradually increased to record levels as the immunological protection provided by two or three vaccine doses has worn off.

The WHO warned in January that the next form of SARS-CoV-2 could be even more dangerous than Omicron. Since the beginning of this year, a growing number of scientists around the world have said that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may never become a common seasonal flu but may persist as a disease that causes severe symptoms and death, especially among the elderly.

Zulkunen explained that the virus is constantly evolving into new variants, each one more dangerous than the last.

Two different viruses can recombine in the same cell.

“Recombinant can also occur when two different viruses end up in the same cell. Gene exchange can occur, creating new variants. There is already evidence of this in Delta and Omicron and Finland’s two forms of Omicron,” Vapalahti said.

Still, high levels of immunity from vaccination or prior infection reduce the risk of severe Covid-19 outcomes, the professors stressed.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 77,051,222 and 908,816, according to the CSSE. The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (42,339,611 infections and 504,062 deaths), followed by Brazil (26,793,497 infections and 634,118 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are France (21,174,600), the UK (18,055,318), Russia (12,946,888), Turkey (12,446,111), Italy (11,765,767), Germany (11,411,464), Spain (10,439,302), Argentina (8,648,075), Iran (6,657,842), Colombia (5,985,516), Poland (5,217,106) and Mexico (5,160,767), the CSSE figures showed.

BMC in a press note said, “Marriage registration service temporarily stopped due to current Covid-19 situation in Mumbai. The service will be restarted soon with the facility of appointment, date, and time.”

Mumbai reported 7,895 new cases of Covid-19 out of 57,534 tests conducted during the last 24 hours.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) bulletin, the city has 60,371 active cases. The total number of cases of the disease in Mumbai has gone up to 9, 99,862. It also said that 21,025 people were recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, on Sunday the state health bulletin said that Maharashtra reported 41,327 new cases and 29 deaths during the last 24 hours.

The Medical Superintendent and Vice-Principal of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital Dr Sanjay Mallick informed that 28 medical students, 7 nursing staff and 2 medical staff have been tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

He said, “Situation is very alarming because the number of cases is increasing rapidly. We are still working with a full team of doctors. But if they get affected, there might be a problem in running the hospital.”

On Tuesday the state health bulletin stated that West Bengal has reported 9,073 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The active cases in the state now 25,475. The state has also witnessed 16 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 19,810. As many as 3,768 people have recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours.

The weekend curfew started at 10 pm Friday and will continue till Monday 5 am. Officials in several districts said that teams will be in the field during the period to check that the curfew order was not violated and people did not venture out unnecessarily.

In the early hours of Saturday, Delhi and its adjoining areas witnessed heavy rainfall with thunderstorms.

The India Meteorological Department tweeted, “Thunderstorm with moderate to heavy intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of entire Delhi and Delhi NCR (Gurugram, Faridabad, Manesar, Ballabhgarh) Karnal, Panipat, Gannaur, Sonipat, Kharkhoda, Jhajjar, Sohana, Palwal, Nuh (Haryana) Baraut, Bagpat (UP) and Tizara (Rajasthan).”

The number of active cases stands at 2, 85,401, comprising 0.81 per cent of the total infections. An increase of 71,397 cases was recorded in the active caseload in a day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3, 43, 41,009. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.38 per cent, the ministry said. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 148.67 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

According to the orders, government offices in the city would have to implement work from home for employees, apart from critical services, and private offices will operate at 50% capacity.

To reduce crowding around metro stations and bus stops, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced that buses and metro will run at full capacity.

Satyendar Jain, the Delhi health minister, announced on Monday that Omicron is the most dominant Covid-19 variant in the city, with evidence of the heavily mutated virus found in percent of the samples sent for genome sequencing.

Meanwhile, the city has been placed on a yellow alert under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which has imposed a number of restrictions, including a night curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., as well as the closure of educational institutions, gyms, and cinemas, among other things.

Inaugurating the 96th National Conference of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appreciates the role of doctors in saving the lives during the last two waves of the epidemic. He also informed the House about the work being done by the government for the improvement of health facilities in Bihar. 

He said, “Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) is being developed as a world class facility with more than 5,400 beds. The number of beds is also being increased in NMCH and some other medical colleges and hospitals. Nine new medical colleges have been set up in the state.”

“New York State has confirmed five cases of the omicron variant. Let me be clear: This is not cause for alarm. We knew this variant was coming and we have the tools to stop the spread,” Kathy Hochul said in a tweet.

“Get your vaccine. Get your booster. Wear your mask,” she said

Other cases of the Omicron variant in the US have been reported in the state of Minnesota, Colorado, while the first case of the variant was detected in California, in a person who had recently travelled to South Africa.

The US  has reported eight cases on Omicron variant so far, involving a person with no recent international travel history, signaling the strain is already circulating inside the country. 

The new potentially more contagious B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 24, and has been designated as a “Variant of Concern” by the global body, which named it “Omicron”. 

Several countries have imposed travel restrictions on the southern African nations since the mutation was discovered.