India logs 156 Omicron cases in a day. Delhi overtakes Maharashtra as top contributor
The Omicron variant of coronavirus has now spread to as many as 19 states and Union territories in India, up from 17 a day ago, and put the entire country on high alert.
India's Omicron case count went up by more than 100 in the past 24 hours, the daily brief issued on Monday by the Union ministry of health and family welfare showed. According to government data, India's Omicron tally increased from 422 on Sunday to 578 a day later, which means that the country added 156 cases of the highly infectious variant to its nationwide tally in the single-day stretch between Sunday and Monday.
Multiple states reported new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, with two regions reporting their very first cases of the new rapidly-transmissible variant. Omicron, the data shows, has now spread to as many as 19 states and Union territories in India, up from 17 a day ago, and put the entire country on high alert.
The two states which reported their first Omicron cases on Sunday are – Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Moreover, although Maharashtra was until a day ago contributing the highest number of Omicron cases in the country, the count in Delhi was closing in fast. Monday's data showed that the national capital had overtaken Maharashtra as the highest contributor to the nationwide Omicron tally.
According to the official data, as shared by the health ministry, Delhi (142) has reported the highest number of Omicron infections in the country, followed by Maharashtra (141), Kerala (57), Gujarat (49), Rajasthan (43), Telangana (41), Tamil Nadu (34), and Karnataka (31).
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The states which showed a marked increase in Omicron cases over the past 24 hours are:
Delhi (from 79 to 142 cases)
Maharashtra (from 108 to 141 cases)
Kerala (from 38 to 57 cases)
Madhya Pradesh (from zero to nine cases)
However, the health ministry noted that of the 578 total Omicron cases in India, 151 patients have already recovered or been discharged.
All foreign returnees from "at-risk" as well as other countries are being tested in most states, and the samples of those found positive for Covid-19 are being sent for genome sequencing.
