New Delhi: India reported 1,41,986 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, a week after the country crossed the 10,000 mark, as the virus continued to spread at an unprecedented pace, largely driven by the Omicron variant now present in 27 states.
The country last reported over one lakh cases on June 7 last year when 1,00,636 infections were recorded. The active cases comprise 1.34 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 97.30 per cent.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 9.28 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 5.66 per cent, according to the ministry.
With a single-day jump of 64 Omicron cases, India now has 3,007 cases of the new variant of coronavirus. Omicron has been reported in 27 states, with the most cases in Maharashtra with 876 cases, followed by Delhi with 513 infections. Out of the total Omicron cases reported so far, 1,203 people have recovered or migrated.
Maharashtra, one of the worst-hit states by the Covid pandemic, added 40,925 cases in 24 hours – a 13 per cent spike over yesterday. Of these, 20,971 were reported in Mumbai alone. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will take a decision on lockdown in Mumbai, state health minister Rajesh Tope had said.
Delhi’s daily Covid cases shot up by 15 per cent on Friday after 17,335 fresh cases were detected in 24 hours. Nine people have died in the national capital in the same period. On Wednesday, the city witnessed its biggest-ever single-day spike in nearly eight months as 10,665 cases were reported in 24 hours.
In the south, Karnataka witnessed a 68 per cent jump in fresh cases as it reported 8,449 infections. State capital Bengaluru alone accounted for 6,812 of the cases. The case positivity rate now stands at 4.15 per cent.
As many as 285 people have died of Covid during the past 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry. This includes 189 deaths in Kerala in the last few months, added based on pending appeals after the last Supreme Court guidelines.
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”.
People flying in from abroad will need to home quarantine for a week after landing in India and test on the eighth day, in new rules that were released amid a huge Omicron-driven surge in Covid cases in the country. The number of “at-risk” countries has been increased to 19; nine more have been added since December.
Covid cases have been on the rise since late last year due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, first identified in Botswana and South Africa. The total number of Covid-19 registered worldwide since the start of the pandemic topped 300 million on Friday, according to an AFP count based on official figures.
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