With a single-day jump of 495 Omicron, India now has 2,630 cases of the new variant of coronavirus. The most cases have been reported in Maharashtra with 797 cases, followed by Delhi with 465 infections. A 73-year-old man in Rajasthan has become the first reported casualty due to the new Covid strain. The man was fully vaccinated and had no significant contact and travel history, according to the government.
New daily Covid cases went up nearly four-fold since the start of the year as the country reported 90,928 infections, a 56 per cent jump from yesterday's 58,097 cases. Apart from Delhi and Mumbai, the Union Health Ministry has identified Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru as some of the main regions of concern, although state officials worry the disease will soon spread to the countryside where health facilities are weaker.
The country's R naught value that indicates the spread of the infection is 2.69, higher than the 1.69 recorded during the peak of the pandemic's second wave. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India's top medical body, has said that "the Omicron variant is the predominant circulating strain".
Mumbai recorded a new daily infection peak of 15,166 on Wednesday, well up on its previous high of just over 11,000 hit last year. Nearly 90% of new patients had shown no symptoms and only 8% were hospitalised, city officials said in a daily health bulletin.
Covid cases nearly doubled in a day in Delhi to 10,665 on Wednesday, but the state said only 7 per cent of its COVID beds were occupied. State health officials, however, have warned even a large number of mild cases could put pressure on the health system.
Kolkata accounted for half of the new cases in West Bengal until a few days ago, but cases are now rising in neighbouring districts. The state has reported one of the highest rates of infections in India.
As many as 325 people have died of Covid during the past 24-hour period, according ot the Health Ministry. This includes 258 deaths in Kerala in the last few months, added based on pending appeals after the last Supreme Court guidelines.
As cases rise, the western state of Gujarat on Thursday indefinitely postponed a January 10-12 biennial investment summit that was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and previously attended by the country's top billionaires. PM Modi's home state reported 3,350 infections on Wednesday.
With several cities imposing coronavirus curfews and health experts warning of exponential infection growth, several parties have brought their public campaigns to a halt.
Data has shown that the average daily rise of Covid this time is almost 21 per cent faster than during the second wave in March-April. A seven-day moving average showed that the cases have shot up from 56 to 199. Today's figures are likely to push the rate further north.
With inputs from agencies
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