Take steps now to avoid increased mortality," was the Centre's message to states on Covid.
Flagging a sudden rise in Covid cases across 14 cities, the Centre has written to states, urging them to take immediate measures to check the surge. Cases of the highly infectious Omicron are also increasing rapidly in and around the big cities. "Take steps now to avoid increased mortality," was the Centre's advice, sources said. The idea of taking Delhi's GRAP model across the country is also being considered, top sources said.
In the evening, the government's Covid Task Force chief VK Paul said the Centre haswritten to eight states including Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala and Telangana. Fourteen districts in the country has showed a massive positivity rate – between 5 and 10 per cent -- he said.
Omicron, he added, is making rapid headway in the country. So far there have been 961 cases of the highly infectious variant across 22 states. The worst affected states are Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala and Telangana.
While Delhi and Mumbai have shown the maximum spike, other cities, including Gurgaon, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad are not far behind.
Over a 24-hour period, Mumbai logged 2,510 cases of Covid on Wednesday, an 82% jump. In a similar massive spike, Delhi reported 923 cases of coronavirus on Wednesday -- an 86 per cent jump from Tuesday.
As of now, Delhi and Maharashtra are also the two states most affected by Omicron, among the 19 states where the variant has made an appearance. But Omicron cases are also increasing rapidly in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, sources said.
Between December 15 and 21, Haryana's Gurugram, located near Delhi, recorded 194 Covid cases. The number went up to 738 in the December 22 to 28 week.
In Chennai, the numbers have gone up from 1,039 to 1,720 in the same period. In Kolkata, the figures are 1,494 and 2,636. In Bengaluru, the Covid cases have spiked from 1,445 to 1,902.
Earlier this week, Delhi imposed a series of restrictions under the Yellow Alert -- part of the city's four-stage Graded Response Action Plan or GRAP. The plan was approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority in July as a preparatory measure for a possible third wave.
Under it, most of the activities resumed in phases as the second wave stopped. Malls, restaurants, shops, cinema halls spas and gyms were shut. So were schools and colleges. Private offices are being allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity from 9 am to 5 pm.
Shops and malls selling non-essential goods and services are allowed to stay open under the odd-even rule.
Restaurants and bars are operating at 50 per cent capacity and timings have been curtailed.