India registered a total of 358 Omicron cases across 17 states and UTs till Friday, said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan during a briefing and warned against lowering guard as world witnesses “the fourth surge in COVID-19 cases”.
“The number of people recovered is 114,” he said.
The majority of Omicron cases in India have been reported from Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka.
Addressing a joint press conference on the pandemic, the health secretary said that 61 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated, while 89 percent has received their first COVID-19 dose.
89% of the adult population has received the first dose and 61% of the eligible population has received the second dose of COVID19 vaccines: Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2021
Of the total Omicron cases, 183 were analysed and 121 of them were found to have foreign travel history, said the health ministry.
Of the 183 Omicron cases analysed so far, 91 percent were fully vaccinated with three having booster shots, 70 percent were asymptomatic, and 61 percent were males, the government said.
He further said that the health ministry advised the states on 21 December to impose restrictions like night curfew and regulate large gatherings.
“The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare preemptively advised states on 21 December to impose restrictions like night curfew, regulating large gatherings, increase bed capacity and other logistics and strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behaviour,” said the Union health secretary.
Oxygen supply of 18,800 MT per day arranged:Centre
Bhushan said that as of now there are 18,10,083 isolation beds, 4,94,314 oxygen-supported beds, 1,39,300 ICU beds, 24,057 paediatric ICU beds and 64,796 paediatric non-ICU beds available nationally.
While speaking on the medical oxygen, he said, “There was a 10-fold increase in oxygen demand from the first wave to the second wave. Thus, 18,800 metric tonnes of medical oxygen per day has been arranged for. The cause for concern is 11 states where vaccination coverage is less than the national average.”
He said that the treatment protocols for COVID-19 and Delta will apply to Omicron, while adding that the evidence has emerged that the immune escape potential for Delta is higher and its high transmission rates will lead to high surge cases.
Delta continues to be predominant strain in India: Health ministry
“The predominant strain in India is Delta including the recently identified clusters. Therefore, we need to continue with the same strategy of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and ramping up of vaccination,” Dr Balram Bhargava, DG-ICMR, said.
ICMR and DBT are working together to culture the virus. We are testing the efficacy of the vaccines against the Omicron variant of COVID19: Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG-ICMR pic.twitter.com/4CNcyP7ZE8
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2021
Citing the World Health Organisation’s findings, the government said Omicron has significant growth advantage over Delta and is spreading fast through communities with a doubling time of 1.5 to 3 days.
The world is witnessing a fourth surge in COVID-19 cases and having an overall positivity rate of 6.1 percent.
Kerala and Mizoram reporting high COVID-19 positivity rate
The government said the COVID-19 case positivity rate in Kerala and Mizoram is much higher than national average and a cause for concern.
It said 20 districts across country were reporting a weekly positivity rate between 5 and 10 percent and two districts over 10 percent.
The health ministry also urged people to avoid crowding and unnecessary travel and stressed on COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and expedited vaccination during Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
In view of the emergence of the Omicron variant, the government appealed to the private health sector to be ready as it has to play an important role in managing the pandemic.
According the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 am, India recorded 6,650 new coronavirus infections, taking its tally of cases to 3,47,72,626, while the count of active cases has declined to 77,516.
The toll due to the disease has climbed to 4,79,133, with 374 daily fatalities being recorded.
With inputs from agencies
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