Delta still dominant variant of COVID-19 in India; 91% Omicron cases fully vaccinated: Health Ministry

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The predominant COVID-19 strain in India is the Delta variant, including the recently identified clusters, Union Health Ministry said on December 24. Therefore, the ministry said, the country needs to continue with the same strategy of COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and ramping up of vaccination.

The treatment protocols for COVID-19 and Delta variant will apply to Omicron variant as well, the Ministry said.

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The analysis of 121 Omicron cases in India showed that 91 percent were fully vaccinated with three having booster shots, 70 percent were asymptomatic and the rest were symptomatic. Up to 73 percent of the cases analysed had travel history, the Ministry said.

As many as 358 cases of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been so far recorded in India.

Overall, India recorded 6,650 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The country’s active caseload stands at 77,516 at present. As many as 140.31 crore doses of vaccine have been administrated so far across the country, according to the Health Ministry.

"The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare preemptively advised States on 21st December to impose restrictions like night curfew, regulating large gatherings. increase bed capacity and other logistics and strict enforcement of COVID-19 appropriate behavior," Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.

The Ministry said 89 percent of the adult population has received the first dose and 61 percent of the eligible population has received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines.

READ: India has 358 cases of Omicron strain, Maharashtra, Delhi top contributors, Health Ministry

The top five states with the highest number of active cases, at the moment, are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka, the Ministry said.

Globally Europe, America and Africa are witnessing an increase in COVID-19 cases but in Asia, the cases are on a decline, the Ministry said.

"Today, we have 18,10,083 isolation beds, 4,94,314 O2 supported beds, 1,39,300 ICU beds, 24,057 pediatric ICU beds and 64,796 pediatric non-ICU beds available nationally," he said.

In the last four weeks, India has been witnessing an average of 7,000 cases. “The world has seen four surges, but India has seen only two,” Bhushan said, insisting that the country should be on guard and can't afford to slacken.

On December 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while emphasising that the fight against the pandemic is not over directed authorities to send teams from the Centre to states which are reporting a surge in cases and have insufficient health infrastructure.

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“The fight against the pandemic is not over, he (the prime minister) said, and the need for continued adherence to COVID-19 safe behaviour is of paramount importance even today,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

The PM chaired a high-level review meeting to assess the COVID-19 situation in the country and the preparedness of healthcare systems, in view of the emergence of the fast-spreading new Omicron coronavirus variant.