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

Omicron cases are on the rise in India. The variant is three times as contagious as the Delta variant.

As many as 358 cases of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been so far recorded in India, the Union ministry of health and family affairs said on December 24.

The ministry said 114 of these patients have recovered from the viral disease.

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The new variant has been found in 17 states so far with Maharashtra recording 88, the highest number of cases among states followed by Delhi where 67 cases of Omicron have been recorded so far, according to the health bulletin issued by the ministry. Telangana has 38 cases while Tamil Nadu has 34 cases of the Omicron variant.

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 safe behaviour is of paramount importance even today,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

He 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.

Overall, India recorded 6,650 new cases of COVID-19 in 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.