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On Tuesday, India has recorded 5,326 fresh coronavirus cases along with 453 deaths in the last 24 hours, said the health ministry. However, active cases stand at 79,097 while over 8,000 people have recovered on Monday, the health ministry said. 

Omicron Cases 

Omicron cases have reached to 171 in the country. As reported by central and state officials, Omicron cases have been detected in- Maharashtra (54), Delhi (28), Rajasthan (17) and Karnataka (19), Telangana (20), Gujarat (11), Kerala (15), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (4). 

Bharat Biotech's approval for phase-3 study 

On Monday, as quoted by news agency PTI, Bharat Biotech has sent an application seeking approval from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct a phase-3 study for its intra-nasal Covid-19 vaccine as a booster dose on participants vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin. “Bharat Biotech has put in an application seeking permission to conduct a study titled ‘A Phase 3 Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of BBV154 and BBV152 as third dose (booster) to participants previously vaccinated with SARS-CoV-2 vaccines’,” an official said. 

Union Health Minister on Omicron 

In Rajya Sabha, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "As of now, India has 161 #Omicron cases...We're monitoring the situation daily with experts. With our experience during the 1st & 2nd waves, to ensure that we don't face problems when variant spreads, we've arranged a buffer stock of important medicines."  

Gujarat extends Night Curfew 

Amidst the rising cases of Covid-19 and Omicron, Gujarat government has extended night curfew till December 31 in eight major cities of the state. "The curfew timing will be 1 am to 5 am", said the official order. The eight cities which continue to witness night curfew include Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Junagarh.