Omicron scare: India's tally crosses 200; Delhi, Maharashtra have maximum cases - check full list

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New Delhi: Omicron cases continue to rapidly rise in India, and the country now has recorded 200 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant across more than 12 states. Most of the cases have been reported from Maharashtra and capital Delhi, the health ministry said on Tuesday (December 21). India's tally of Omicron cases has nearly doubled within a week, but there have been no deaths reported so far. In less than 40% of cases, patients either fully recovered or were discharged, the data showed, as mentioned by Reuters.

Of the total cases, Maharashtra and Delhi have the highest number of infections from the highly contagious strain at 54 each, followed by Telangana (20), Karnataka (19), Rajasthan (18), Kerala (15) and Gujarat (14). Odisha also reported its first Omicron cases. At least two people in Odisha tested positive for omicron, the first cases of the latest version of coronavirus in the state, officials said on Tuesday.

India has been accelerating its vaccination campaign amid fears of potential surges in infections, with at least one dose given to 87% of the eligible 944 million adults. India recorded 5,326 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, the lowest overnight tally in more than one and a half years. Overall, the country has reported 34.75 million cases, the second-highest behind only the United States.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told parliament on Monday that 80% of Omicron cases were asymptomatic. "We are keeping an eye on the variant and in coming days, we will monitor its effects," Mandaviya said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged citizens to wear masks and appealed to the Centre to allow booster doses. Delhi had fully vaccinated about 70% of its adult population of 15 million, Kejriwal said.

 Looking at the rising tally of Omicron cases in the country, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) in its latest bulletin dated December 13, published on Monday, said that public health measures and investigations are being conducted to look into the new variant.

However, despite the Omicron scare, India reported the lowest number of Covid cases in 581 days - the country reported 5,326 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. As per the ministry, the active caseload in the country now stands at 79,097; the lowest in 574 days.

(With Agency inputs)