The Omicron total tally in the country crossed the 600-mark on Monday to hit 612.

Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases at 167 followed by Delhi at 142 and Kerala at 57. Manipur and Goa reported one Omicron case each for the first time on Monday.

Apart from this, Covid cases on Monday stood at 6,531 with 315 deaths till 8 am.

States impose restrictions

Amid the Omicron scare, many States/UTs imposed night curfew and other restrictions. Delhi imposed a night curfew between 11 pm and 5 am from Monday after it recorded 290 cases the previous day, the highest since June 10. Positivity rate has also risen to 0.55 per cent in the capital. Besides that, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka have also already imposed night curfews and other restrictions in the wake of Omicron.

India’s weekly positivity rate stood at 0.63 per cent, remaining less than 1 per cent for the last 43 days. The daily positivity rate stood at 0.87 per cent, remaining below 2 per cent for the last 84 days and below 3 per cent for 119 consecutive days.

Meanwhile, the country conducted 7.52 lakh tests during the previous day aggregating to 67.29 crore tests in all. It also administered 29.93 lakh vaccine doses in the last 24 hours till 8 am, with vaccination coverage increasing to 141.70 crore doses.

In addition, the Home Ministry on Monday urged all States/UTs to observe all precautions and not let their guard down. Local/district administration, based on the normative framework and their assessment of the situation, should promptly take appropriate containment measures.

Five-fold strategy

States may also consider imposing local curbs to control the crowd during the festive season, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a letter addressed to States/UTs. He stressed upon the five-fold strategy of test, track, treat, vaccinate and adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour to avoid the possibility of a surge in Covid cases, especially in view of the new variant.

“With distinct presence of the Delta variant and detection of Omicron cases in many States, there is a need for prompt containment actions at the local and district levels based on the assessment of the situation,” Bhalla said.

Cases rise globally

Globally, Omicron infections have been recorded in 116 countries so far and a further increase in cases is being reported across countries like the US, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, South Africa, Vietnam and Australia.

“State governments should ensure that health systems in States are strengthened to meet any challenge posed by the new variant. Further, the State government/UTs should ensure that oxygen supply equipment is installed and fully functional, and buffer stock of essential drugs is maintained,” the letter added.

Published on December 27, 2021