Omicron spread: Big rise in Maharashtra, Kerala - 5 points

Maharashtra, Kerala and Delhi continued to report a rise in cases of Omicron - the latest, more transmissible variant of the coronavirus first detected in South Africa. While Maharashtra and Kerala reported 31 and 19 cases respectively, Delhi tally omicron patients reached 68. Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh also reported their first Omicron cases. So far, 422 Omicron cases have been detected across 17 states and union territories in India and 130 of these people have recovered or migrated, according to Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.

Here are top 10 developments on rise of Omicron cases in India:

1. Kerala - 19 more cases detected: With 19 more people testing positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Kerala, the total number of infections by the new variant in the state reached 57, the Health Department said on Sunday. Of the 19 cases, 11 were detected in Ernakulam, six in Thiruvananthapuram and one each in Thrissur and Kannur.

2. Delhi: An update from Delhi's  Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital - that is treating the Omicron affected patients - said it was currently having a load 68 such cases. Fourty patients have been discharged, a senior official of the health facility told news agency PTI said on Sunday.
None of the Omicron patients, so far, have required oxygen support or COVID-19 medications, the official said.

3. Maharashtra - 31 new cases:  Maharashtra reported as many as 31 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Sunday, taking the tally of such patients in the state to 141, the health department said. Of these, Mumbai saw 27 cases, which raised the city's count of such cases to 73, it said in a statement. All these cases were found through the screening at the Mumbai international airport. Four of the patients hail from Gujarat, three from Karnataka, two each from Kerala and Delhi, one each from Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and from other parts of Maharashtra - Jalgaon, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, while two are foreign nationals, the department said.

4. Night curfew in Delhi: Delhi government today announced imposition of a night curfew from Monday, minutes after state's health ministry reported 290 new Covid cases - highest daily rise in nearly 6 months. Night curfew will commence from 11 PM and last till 5 AM.

5. First cases in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh said that nine foreign returnees were found infected with the new strain in Indore, of whom seven have already been discharged after recovery.

Himachal Pradesh reported its first case of Omicron on Sunday in Mandi district, an official here said. The latest coronavirus variant was found in a 45-year-old asymptomatic woman, who was tested positive for COVID-19 on December 12.