India's Omicron Cases Crosses 350

Omicron High Alert!

On Thursday, according to data, the country reported 354 cases of the Omicron variant. However, most patients either had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare said, according to the statistics, India reported more than 100 cases of the Omicron variant in the last 24 hours, in its last update a day before it was 238.

Driving the Omicron surge in India are Delhi and Maharashtra as both these regions collectively lead the tally with regards to the new variant of SARS-CoV-2.

On Thursday, Delhi didn’t register any fresh cases of Omicron, whereas, Maharashtra reported 23 new infections, of which five were in Mumbai. This took Maharashtra's Omicron cases to 88.

Delhi has so far reported 64 infections of the new variant; most of them, however, have not shown any symptoms and have been discharged after testing negative for the virus.

Several other states also recorded Omicron infections. Two cases were reported in Odisha, seven reported in Gujarat, 12 in Karnataka, 33 in Tamil Nadu, and more in a row.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the evening chaired a high-level meeting over the rise in Omicron variant cases. The PM directed officials to send special trained teams to states with low rates of vaccination, a growing number of cases, and inadequate health infrastructure to review and improve preparations for further Covid-19 outbreaks.

PM Modi also directed officials to maintain a high level of vigil and alertness at all levels and said the central government should work in coordination with states to support their efforts of public health measures of containment and management under a “whole of government” approach.

“In view of the new variant, we should be Satark and Saavdhan,” said the PM Modi, while also focusing on the need for people to adhere to Covid-safe behaviour.

The Omicron variant has got medical experts and public health professionals across the world concerned over aspects such as its transmissibility, immune system evasion, and vaccine resistance, despite initial reports indicating that the variant causes a less severe disease than previous strains.