Highlights: Maharashtra Minister Balasaheb Thorat tests positive for Covid-19

“My corona (Covid-19) test has come out positive. I do not have any symptoms, but I will take further treatment on the advice of my doctor. Anyone who came in contact with me should get tested. Appealing to everyone on this occasion, you should use a mask, be careful,” he said.

A red alert has been issued for 4 districts of Tamil Nadu – Chennai, Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur, & Chinglepet in view of heavy rainfall. Three people have died due to electrocution today, said state revenue and disaster management minister KKSSR Ramachandran.

Earlier today, a 70-year-old man was electrocuted in Chennai when he came out of his and died on the spot. Two more deaths took place at other locations.

“Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” said MEA in a statement in connection with reports that China has renamed some places in Arunachal Pradesh in its own language.

Delhi recorded a huge jump in daily Covid-19 cases, 1,313 infections logged in last 24 hours.

198 new cases of the Omicron variant were reported in Maharashtra, taking the total number to 450. So far, 125 patients have been discharged after undergoing RT-PCR tests.

Amir Subhani, 1987 batch IAS officer has been appointed Bihar's new chief secretary.

West Bengal had registered 1,089 new cases on Wednesday, which was the biggest single-day spike till yesterday.

Delhi government says Covid positive and asymptomatic international passengers can also be sent to designated hotels.

Gujarat government has announced extending Covid-19 restrictions from Dec 31 to Jan 7, announced state health minister Rushikesh Patel.

All police holidays and weekly holidays have been cancelled tomorrow and every policeman posted in Mumbai will be on duty. Information was received that Khalistani elements could carry out terrorist attacks in the city, after which the Mumbai Police has been on alert, says Mumbai Police.

West Bengal government has decided to suspend all flights coming from UK to Kolkata airport from January 3.

The emergency meeting of Maharashtra COVID-19 Task Force called by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray begins in a virtual mode.

Precautionary dose of COVID-19 vaccine is primarily to mitigate severity of infection, hospitalisation, death, says ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava.

Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat are emerging as states/UTs of concern on the basis of weekly Covid-19 cases and positivity, the health ministry said at the press briefing, as quoted by PTI. Read more

“The weekly positivity rate of more than 10% is being noted in 8 districts including 6 districts from Mizoram, one from Arunachal Pradesh, Kolkata in West Bengal. The weekly case positivity rate is between 5-10% in 14 districts,” says Union health secretary Luv Agrawal.

“Reportedly, 70 per cent of Omicron patients are asymptomatic, and with the variant's high transmissibility, it's going to spread like fire once it gets into the community because you won't know if the next person is infected,” said Dr Naresh Gupta, director and professor of Delhi's Maulana Azad Medical College, while speaking to ANI.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates and lays the foundation stone of 23 developmental projects worth ₹17,500 crore in Haldwani, Uttarakhand.

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand and advised the states to enhance Covid-19 testing, strengthen hospital-level preparedness, and increasing the pace and coverage of vaccination, reports ANI. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, to inaugurate and lay the foundation of various developmental projects, reports ANI.

The Delhi government said that more than ₹89 lakh has been collected in fines and as many as 67 FIRs were registered from December 29 for the violation of Covid-19 protocols in the national capital after the 'yellow alert' restrictions came into effect, reports ANI.

Chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra said that the representatives of all political parties met with the election commission of India and said that polls should be conducted on time following all Covid-19 protocols, reports ANI.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will chair a virtual meeting of the state's Covid-19 Task Force today, reports ANI. 

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said that 46% of the total Covid-19 cases in the capital are of Omicron variant as per the latest genome sequencing results, reports ANI. 

The Additional Chief Secretary for health, Uttar Pradesh, Amit Mohan Prasad said that the Covid-19 infections in Delhi and the National Capital Region have been increasing and Uttar Pradesh needs to be alert in view of the same, reports ANI.

He also said that the state has reported three cases of the new variant so far and out of 115 samples which were sent for genome sequencing, 112 have returned positive for Delta variant.