India's Omicron tally rises to 1,700; Maharashtra worst-hit, here's the state-wise breakup

New Delhi: A total of 1,700 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 23 states and Union Territories so far, out of which 639 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union health ministry's data updated on Monday.

Maharashtra has recorded the maximum number of 510 cases, followed by Delhi (351), Kerala (156), Gujarat (136), Tamil Nadu (121) and Rajasthan (120). India's Covid tally rose to 3,49,22,882 with 33,750 fresh cases, while the active cases increased to 1,45,582, according to the data updated at 8 am.

Number of confirmed #Omicron cases in India reaches 1,700: Union Health Ministry pic.twitter.com/Sx2Tu77dGX — ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2022

The death toll climbed to 4,81,893 with 123 more fatalities, the data showed. The active cases have increased to 1,45,582 comprising 0.42 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.20 per cent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 22,781 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.84 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.68 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,42,95,407, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.38 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 145.68 crore.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23. The 123 new fatalities include 78 from Kerala and nine from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,81,893 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,41,542 from Maharashtra, 48,113 from Kerala, 38,346 from Karnataka, 36,790 from Tamil Nadu, 25,109 from Delhi, 22,916 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,781 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. "Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that the state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.