India's positivity rate on Monday crossed 20 per cent, the latest government data shows, suggesting that one in five people who are getting tested is infected. This is the highest since mid-May last year when the second wave had led to a big surge in hospitalizations, putting the healthcare system in major cities under pressure.
The positivity rate, the number of cases for every 100 tests, in over 200 districts is higher than the national average - it's highest in Thiruvananthapuram (49%), followed by Faridabad, and North Goa (46 per cent). The figure in Rohtak, Pune, and Mohali is also above 40 per cent while in South Goa, it's 39 per cent.
This morning, India recorded 3.06 lakh cases - the daily surge has been above the 3 lakh mark since January 24.
The data, however, highlights a drop in testing. 14.8 lakh tests were carried out in the previous 24 hours while an average of 17.9 lakh tests have been conducted over the last seven days.
Coronavirus: Over 200 districts have positivity rate above the national average.
Karnataka registered the highest number of patients on Sunday (50,210), followed by Kerala (45,449) and Maharashtra (40,805).
Bengaluru was among the most affected cities with 26,000 cases.
On Sunday, the government said Omicron - the latest variant to have sparked global concerns - is in the community transmission stage in India and has become dominant in several metros.
"Omicron is now in community transmission in India and has become dominant in multiple metros, where new cases have been rising exponentially. BA.2 lineage is in a substantial fraction in India and S gene dropout based screening is thus likely to give high false negatives," the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium said.
From FLiRT To FLuQE: What To Know About The Latest Covid Variants Covid Still Kills 1,700 A Week Around World: WHO "It's Possible Due To...": Nirmala Sitharaman On S&P's "Positive" Rating Life On Earth Originates From One Ancestor, Older Than Previously Believed Omar Abdullah On What Should Be J&K Assembly's 1st Move After Polls Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah To Be Prosecuted In Land Scam Case Ukraine Says "Strengthening" Positions In Russia Amid Raging War TasteAtlas Shares Top 10 Best And Worst American Foods, Internet Disagrees Telangana Man Dies In US, Family Asks Government To Help Bring Back Body Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.