India’s Covid cases dip

Weekly Covid-19 cases in India fell for the first time in the third wave of the pandemic while deaths from the virus continued to rise, registering a growth of 41% against the previous week's toll.

India recorded just over 17.5 lakh fresh cases during the week ending Sunday, down 19% from the preceding week, strengthening the view that the third wave may have peaked at the national level although some states may continue to report a surge in cases.

There was, however, a 10% drop in testing during the current week as compared to the previous seven days. Despite that, India's test positivity rate in the week dipped to 15.68% as opposed to 17.28% in the previous week, reports TOI.

Last week, the country had reported nearly 21.7 lakh new cases, the highest in the current surge. If nationwide cases do continue to fall in the coming days, the third wave would be by far the shortest yet, having peaked in just four weeks. Cases had started rising in the last week of December.

India reported more than 3,770 new deaths during the week, up from 2,680 in the previous seven days.

These figures do not include deaths from earlier periods added to the official count. If these fatalities are added to the count, India's toll rose by 5,203 during the current week. The daily death toll stayed over 550 for the third day running, with 564 fatalities reported on Sunday.

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,661,274 million people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources yesterday.

Australia reported its lowest daily Covid-19 deaths in two weeks yesterday while cases continued to trend lower as authorities braced for staff shortages in schools due to likely outbreaks as thousands of students return after their summer break.

Most states will go through a staggered school reopening exercise this week as Australia battles the worst outbreak of the pandemic, with the fast-moving Omicron coronavirus variant spiralling cases to record levels, reports Reuters.

"There will be challenges and there will be bumps over these first few weeks," Victoria state Deputy Premier James Merlino said during a media briefing yesterday. Merlino said a pool of about 350 retired teachers have been set up to support schools when they have to furlough staff.

In China, Beijing recorded its highest number of new cases for a year and a half as it gears up to host the Winter Olympics in five days.

Thousands of Czechs massed in Prague's Wenceslas Square late on Sunday, waving flags and chanting slogans against Covid-19 restrictions, even as infections surge.

Protesters mainly objected to harsher restrictions for the unvaccinated, including a ban on eating in restaurants.

Indonesia's holiday island of Bali will start welcoming back travellers from all countries from later this week, officials said yesterday, more than three months after announcing it was open to selected nationalities.

Though Bali officially opened to visitors from China, New Zealand, and Japan among other countries in mid October, there has since been no direct flights, Tourism minister Sandiaga Uno told a briefing.