Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

India's Covid cases multiply, vulnerable groups given boosters

India's Covid cases multiply, vulnerable groups given boosters

INDIA began administering booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine to frontline workers and vulnerable elderly people on Monday (10), with the fast-spreading Omicron variant fuelling an almost eight-fold rise in daily infections since the start of the year.

India reported 179,723 new cases on Monday (10), most of them in the country's biggest cities - Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata - where Omicron has overtaken Delta as the most prevalent strain of the virus.


There were 146 deaths reported on Monday, bringing the toll to 483,936 since the pandemic first struck India in early 2020. Only the United States and Brazil have recorded more deaths.

In recent days, hundreds of healthcare and frontline workers, including police, have contracted the virus, and there were media reports that hundreds of parliamentary staff have also tested positive ahead of a budget session on Feb. 1.

Facing this rising third wave of infections, the government sent booster reminders to more than 10 million people who took their second dose of the Covaxin or Covishield shot nine months ago.

Unlike many countries, India is not mixing and matching vaccines.

Only healthcare personnel, frontline workers and people above 60 years suffering from other health conditions are eligible for what the government calls a "precaution dose".

"The government is committed to provide additional security cover to healthcare and frontline workers on priority," health minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote on Twitter.

Despite the rise in infections, five states including the most populous Uttar Pradesh will hold elections starting Feb. 10, though authorities have barred political party rallies until at least the middle of this month.

Tasked with protecting India's near 1.4 billion people from the virus, the government has administered 1.5 billion vaccine doses in total. About 67 per cent of the country's 939 million adults have been double vaccinated.

India's overall Covid-19 testing has remained around 1.5 million a day, well below the capacity of more than 2 million.

Since the pandemic began, India has recorded 35.7 million cases of Covid-19, the highest in the world after the United States.

Government officials have privately said they are working under the assumption that daily infections will surpass the record of more than 414,000 set in May, based on what has happened in countries like the United States, where daily cases have risen past 1 million.

(Reuters)

More For You

Ganpati festival

The Ganpati festival celebrates Ganesha as the god of new beginnings, and the god of wisdom and intelligence. (Photo: Getty Images)

Hindu community centre in London damaged in fire after Ganapati Visarjan event

A HINDU community centre in east London caught fire on Saturday evening, causing major damage to the building. The London Fire Brigade brought the fire under control and confirmed that no injuries were reported.

The incident took place at the Shree Sorathia Prajapati Community Centre on Cleveland Road in Ilford, which had been decorated for a Ganapati Visarjan event attended by members of the Hindu community.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi-Xi-Putin

Narendra Modi talks with Vladimir Putin and Xi jinping ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

SCO declaration slams Pahalgam attack, calls for united action on terror

Highlights:

  • SCO condemns terror attack in Pahalgam and echoes India’s stance on “double standards”.
  • Leaders call for justice for perpetrators of attacks in Pahalgam and Balochistan.
  • Declaration criticises Israeli military strikes in Gaza causing civilian casualties.
  • SCO stresses UN’s central role in global counter-terrorism strategy.

THE SHANGHAI Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Monday condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and agreed with India’s position that “double standards” in tackling terrorism are not acceptable.

Keep ReadingShow less
Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

Anti-migrant protesters demonstrate outside the Cladhan Hotel on August 30, 2025 in Falkirk, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

BRITISH police said they arrested five people on Saturday (30) after masked men tried to force their way into a hotel used by asylum-seekers, a day after the government won a court ruling on the use of another hotel to house migrants.

Two groups of anti-asylum protesters marched to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow Airport before some demonstrators tried to break in, London's Metropolitan Police force said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy (L) and Narendra Modi

Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his support for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Modi's office said.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address on Saturday (30), said Modi supported Ukraine's call for a ceasefire in the war with Russia and hoped that notion would be heard at the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

India's prime minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Chinese president Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China, August 31, 2025. India's Press Information Bureau/Handout via REUTERS

Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi was committed to improving ties with Beijing in a key meeting with China's president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional security forum on Sunday (31).

Modi is in China for the first time in seven years to attend a two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, along with Russian president Vladimir Putin and other leaders from Central, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East in a show of Global South solidarity.

Keep ReadingShow less