New Year celebrations and the new COVID-19 variant has driven up the caseload in the national capital and the western coastal state
A health worker collects a swab sample of a passenger to test for COVID-19 as others wait for their turn at a train station in New Delhi. AP
The Omicron wave has hit Delhi and the numbers prove it.
Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain on Monday announced that the latest genome sequencing report shows the Omicron variant of coronavirus has been found in 84 percent of the samples tested.
Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Jain said: “As per genome sequencing reports of 30-31 December from three labs – at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, Lok Nayak Hospital and National Centre for Disease Control – 84 per cent samples were infected with Omicron. Most of the cases are of Omicron.”
Please read: India on precipice of third COVID-19 wave: How Omicron is fuelling a rise in COVID-19 cases
As of 3 January, with 351 infections, Delhi has the second most number of Omicron cases only to be topped off by Maharashtra with 510 cases.
The Delhi health bulletin has also revealed that the capital has recorded around 4,000 new cases of coronavirus and the positivity rate has increased to 6.5 percent. This compared to 3,194 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday and a positivity rate of 4.59 percent.
With the positivity rate surpassing five percent, it is to be believed that a ‘red alert’ would be sounded in the capital, as per the Graded Response Action Plan.
So, what does a red alert mean for Delhi?
There would be total curfew – night as well as weekend – on movement of people. However, exceptions would be made for essential services workers. Additionally, shops and establishments dealing with non-essential goods and services will be closed. Malls and weekly markets would also be shut down. Restaurants and bars would be closed, and delivery of only essential items will be allowed. Government offices too would be closed, except those providing essential and emergency services.
Meanwhile, the situation in Goa has also become worse with authorities deciding to shut down schools and colleges till 26 January in the wake of a rise in COVID-19 cases in the coastal state. A night curfew from 11 pm to 6 am is also being put in place.
The curbs come as Goa reported a 10.7 percent COVID-19 positivity rate on Sunday. On Sunday, Goa reported 388 new COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally in the state to 1,81,570, while one death raised the toll to 3,523, as per official data.
The rise comes shortly after the Christmas and New Year celebrations saw tourists from all over the country as well as from abroad descending on the coastal state.
In fact, on Sunday, a video of a huge crowd at a popular tourist spot in North Goa was widely shared on Twitter.= The video shows hundreds of people walking on a road near Baga Beach in North Goa.
Seeing a rise in infections, authorities have decided to close the physical sessions for classes 8 and 9 in schools from tomorrow till 26 January and also enforce restrictions on indoor activities.
With inputs from PTI
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.