Coronavirus Omicron variant India live updates: At 678, India sees 3rd wave’s highest daily toll

The Covid death toll for January in Maharashtra crossed the 1,000-mark — for the first time since October (1,120) — with an addition of over 250 deaths in the last four days of the month alone. There were 474 Covid deaths in November and 233 in December, reports Sumitra DebRoy. Latest figures show 1,043 lives were lost in January. The increase was more than four-fold from the December toll. State officials pointed out the January case fatality rate at 0.1% was the lowest in the pandemic.

Brazil reported 172,903 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 893 deaths due to COVID-19, data from the Health Ministry showed on Wednesday.The South American country has now registered 25,793,112 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 628,960.

The Centre on Wednesday asked states to accelerate second dose coverage for Covid vaccine among adolescents of 15-17 years. The government also plans to soon start giving ZyCoV-D in seven states under the immunisation programme. The states include Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, UP and West Bengal.

With Delhi’s positivity rate (4.73%) dropping below 5% for the first time in a month, DDMA will discuss on Friday whether to reopen schools and colleges in phases, let gyms and spas restart and lift night curfew.

The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines have been highly effective and have encouraged more people to get vaccinated. But they also have limitations: their efficacy can wane without a booster shot, and they may be less effective against some variants. A recent study, however, has some positive news. Scientists at The Wistar Institute, who led the study, developed a more targeted vaccine that, in animal studies, showed stronger, broader, and more durable protection in a single, low dose.

As many as 3,855 applications have been approved so far for PM CARES for Children scheme to support children who have lost both parents to Covid, said the Ministry of Women and Child Development on Wednesday. Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced PM CARES for Children scheme to support children who have lost both parents or surviving parents or legal guardians or adoptive parents due to Covid pandemic.

Pharma major Zydus Cadila said Wednesday it has started supplying its Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D to the Centre, nearly six months after the jab had been authorised for emergency use in the 12-and-above age group.