Omicron tally in India reaches 236; 16 states, UTs infected

As of Thursday, the Omicron count in India has reached 236, with maximum cases in Maharashtra, followed by Delhi and 14 other states and UTs in the country. The Covid cases in Maharashtra also recorded the highest single day spike in the Covd-19 cases in the last 48 days, with 490 fresh Covid positive cases.

New Delhi: With India experiencing a steady surge in the Omicron cases every day, a total of 236 cases of the new variant of coronavirus have been recorded so far across 16 states and UTs. Out of these 236 cases, 104 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Maharashtra has recorded the maximum of 65 cases of the Omicron variant followed by Delhi at 64, Telangana 24, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 21 and Kerala 15. The ministry data updated at 8 am also showed that India recorded 7,495 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of cases to 3,47,65,976, while the active cases increased to 78,291. The death toll has climbed to 4,78,759 with 434 fresh fatalities, the data stated.

The daily rise in new Coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 56 days now, except in Maharashtra. Maharashtra recorded a total of 490 fresh Covid cases which is the highest single day spike in the last 48 days.

The active cases in India comprise 0.23 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020,as informed by the Health Ministry.

The 434 new fatalities include 383 from Kerala and eight each from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Of the 383 deaths in Kerala, 36 were recorded over the last few days and 347 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, a Kerala state government release said on Wednesday.

A total of 4,78,759 deaths have been reported so far in the country with maximum in Maharashtra, followed by Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal respectively.

The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. "Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.