Worrying Surge : India Records 781 Omicron Variant Cases; Delhi , Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana Are Top Five States

Picture : Twitter / ANI

India has recorded 781 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 21 states and UTs so far out of which 241 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.

Delhi recorded the maximum number of 238 cases followed by Maharashtra at 167, Gujarat 73, Kerala 65 and Telangana 62.

With 9,195 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,48,08,886, while the active cases increased to 77,002 , according to the data updated at 8 am. What is worrying is the presence of huge crowds at Capital’s Sarojini Nagar market where covid norms were violated drew the attention of the Delhi HC .

The death toll has climbed to 4,80,592 with 302 fresh fatalities, the data stated.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 62 days now.

The active cases comprise 0.22 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

An increase of 1,546 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Meanwhile , the overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains “very high”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday as the world continues to witness the surge in global COVID-19 cases.

The weekly epidemiological update by WHO revealed the week of December 20-26 saw the global number of new COVID-19 cases increase by 11 per cent as compared to the previous week.

“Consistent evidence shows that the Omicron has a growth advantage over the Delta with a doubling time of 2-3 days and rapid increases in the incidence of cases is seen in a number of countries, including those where the variant has become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant,” WHO update said while citing examples of the UK and the US.