by NEW DELHI: As Omicron cases steadily rise across the country, several states have started imposing new curbs to stop the spread.
India has recorded more than 260 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 16 states and UTs so far. The daily rise in new Covid-19 cases has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 56 days now.
The active cases comprise 0.23 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020.
Here are the latest developments:
PM Modi holds review meeting:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chaired a review meeting on the Covid-19 situation in the country amid rising concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant.
Don’t let your guard down, Centre asks states
The government today cautioned states to observe all precautions and don’t let the guard down amid the rise in Omicron variant cases in the country.
The Centre also advised states slated to hold assembly polls in the next few months to ramp up Covid vaccination exponentially to protect the vulnerable population. Pockets with low vaccination coverage and those with low COVID-19 exposure may be more vulnerable to the new Omicron variant, it said and urged states to accord special attention to ramp up inoculation in these pockets.
Made preparations to deal with up to 1 lakh cases daily: Kejriwal
The Delhi government will increase daily test capacity to three lakh and strengthen home isolation module to handle one lakh positive cases each day, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
The chief minister said Omicron was characterised by a fast spread and mild infection and asked people not to panic as the Delhi government was prepared to deal with it if there was a surge in the number of infections.
Since Omicron infection does not require hospitalisation in most cases, the home-isolation module is being strengthened and an agency was being hired for it, he said.
Mumbai reports 602 new Covid cases, one death
Mumbai on Thursday reported 602 fresh Covid-19 cases and one death, which raised its overall tally to 7,68,750 and fatality count to 16,367, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
A total of 207 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the cumulative recovery figure to 7,46,991.
There are 2,813 active cases in the country’s financial capital at present, the civic body said in its report.
Tamil Nadu adds 33 new cases of Omicron variant
The number of Omicron cases of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu jumped to 34 on Thursday and the infected who were asymptomatic were “doing well” with issues such as giddiness and sore throat, the state government said.
Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ma Subramanian, said the infected included the contacts of the state’s first case, an air traveller who arrived here from Nigeria via Doha.
The samples of the persons infected with S-gene drop, a possible indicator of Omicron infection, had been sent to the Centre earlier, after conducting their genome sequencing tests here and 33 of them have been confirmed for the latest variant of the virus, he told reporters here. A total of 57 such samples had been sent, 34 turning positive and the results of the rest were awaited.
12 new Omicron cases reported in Karnataka, tally rises to 31
Karnataka on Thursday reported 12 new cases of Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, taking its tally to 31, Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar said.
Seven of them are women, including two girls aged nine and 11.
“12 new cases of Omicron have been confirmed in Karnataka today taking the tally to 31,” Sudhakar said, adding, ten are from Bengaluru while one each is from Mysuru and Mangaluru.
India has recorded more than 260 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 16 states and UTs so far. The daily rise in new Covid-19 cases has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 56 days now.
The active cases comprise 0.23 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020.
Here are the latest developments:
PM Modi holds review meeting:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chaired a review meeting on the Covid-19 situation in the country amid rising concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant.
Don’t let your guard down, Centre asks states
The government today cautioned states to observe all precautions and don’t let the guard down amid the rise in Omicron variant cases in the country.
The Centre also advised states slated to hold assembly polls in the next few months to ramp up Covid vaccination exponentially to protect the vulnerable population. Pockets with low vaccination coverage and those with low COVID-19 exposure may be more vulnerable to the new Omicron variant, it said and urged states to accord special attention to ramp up inoculation in these pockets.
Made preparations to deal with up to 1 lakh cases daily: Kejriwal
The Delhi government will increase daily test capacity to three lakh and strengthen home isolation module to handle one lakh positive cases each day, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
The chief minister said Omicron was characterised by a fast spread and mild infection and asked people not to panic as the Delhi government was prepared to deal with it if there was a surge in the number of infections.
Since Omicron infection does not require hospitalisation in most cases, the home-isolation module is being strengthened and an agency was being hired for it, he said.
Mumbai reports 602 new Covid cases, one death
Mumbai on Thursday reported 602 fresh Covid-19 cases and one death, which raised its overall tally to 7,68,750 and fatality count to 16,367, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
A total of 207 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the cumulative recovery figure to 7,46,991.
There are 2,813 active cases in the country’s financial capital at present, the civic body said in its report.
Tamil Nadu adds 33 new cases of Omicron variant
The number of Omicron cases of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu jumped to 34 on Thursday and the infected who were asymptomatic were “doing well” with issues such as giddiness and sore throat, the state government said.
Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ma Subramanian, said the infected included the contacts of the state’s first case, an air traveller who arrived here from Nigeria via Doha.
The samples of the persons infected with S-gene drop, a possible indicator of Omicron infection, had been sent to the Centre earlier, after conducting their genome sequencing tests here and 33 of them have been confirmed for the latest variant of the virus, he told reporters here. A total of 57 such samples had been sent, 34 turning positive and the results of the rest were awaited.
12 new Omicron cases reported in Karnataka, tally rises to 31
Karnataka on Thursday reported 12 new cases of Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, taking its tally to 31, Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar said.
Seven of them are women, including two girls aged nine and 11.
“12 new cases of Omicron have been confirmed in Karnataka today taking the tally to 31,” Sudhakar said, adding, ten are from Bengaluru while one each is from Mysuru and Mangaluru.
