Coronavirus live | As case counts fall, WHO chief warns "COVID-19 isn't finished"

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 171 crore on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry said

Data from human trials of India’s first homegrown mRNA COVID-19 vaccine are likely to be presented to authorities for evaluation by the end of the month, and company officials are aiming to roll out the product before April, two senior scientists connected to the Department of Biotechnology told The Hindu.

You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.

Here are the updates:

Omicron now the dominant variant in circulation in T.N.

From 12% in early December, Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 turned into the dominant variant in circulation as 97% of samples sequenced during the last week of January in Tamil Nadu were of this variant.

According to data released by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine on the proportion of Delta and Omicron variants in Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) samples, 100% of samples were of Delta on December 4 and 7. Analysis found the Delta variant in 88% of samples and the Omicron variant in 12% of samples on December 11.

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As case counts fall, WHO chief warns "COVID isn’t finished"

The head of the World Health Organization insisted Wednesday that “COVID isn’t finished with us,” appealing for more support to fight the pandemic after his agency reported that case counts and deaths fell worldwide over the past week.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, launching a new $23 billion campaign to fund WHO’s efforts to lead a fair rollout of COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines around the world, cautioned that “diseases know no borders” and the highly-transmissible omicron variant has shown that “any feeling of safety can change in a moment.” -AP

HC directs officials, staff to attend office with 100% strength from Feb 14

The Delhi High Court Wednesday directed all its officers and officials to start attending office with 100% strength on a regular basis from February 14 onwards.

In its circular, the high court has asked court staff to get themselves fully vaccinated and also strictly adhere to the norms of social distancing and COVID-19 protocols, guidelines, and directions issued by the central government, Delhi Government, and the court from time to time. -PTI

Physical hearing to resume in courts across J-K, Ladakh from next week

Physical hearing with certain restrictions would resume in courts across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from February 14, Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal said on Wednesday as he issued fresh guidelines amid gradual improvement in the COVID-19 situation.

However, the chief justice of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh said the entry of litigants, clerks and agents of advocates into courtrooms shall remain prohibited for the time being, while judicial custody remands shall be given only through video conference as far as permissible. -PTI

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