10 new cases of Omicron variant take tally to 83

Bengaluru/New Delhi: Karnataka, Delhi and Gujarat together on Thursday reported 10 fresh cases of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus taking the countrywide tally of this strain to 83.

Karnataka, Delhi and Gujarat reported five, four and one fresh cases of the Omicron variant to take the total to eight, ten and five respectively, according to a tally of the new infections from the states.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, meanwhile, reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country and the preparedness of the health infrastructure of all Union territories, according to a home ministry spokesperson.

Maharashtra has so far reported the highest number of Omicron cases at 32, followed by Rajasthan at 17. These cases have also been reported in the states of Karnataka (8), Gujarat (5), Kerala (5), Telangana (2), Tamil Nadu(1),West Bengal (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and Union Territories of Delhi (10) and Chandigarh (1). The country's first two cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Karnataka on December 2.

India added 7,974 new Coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,47,18,602, while the active cases declined to 87,245 on Thursday.

The death toll climbed to 4,76,478 with 343 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in new Coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 49 days now.

The active cases comprise 0.25 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.38 per cent, the highest since March 2020,the ministry said.

A decline of 317 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.57 per cent. It has been less than two per cent for last 73 days. The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 0.64 per cent. It has been below one per cent for the last 32 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,41,54,879, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.37 per cent.

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country neared 136 crore on Thursday. As many as 62,90,272 vaccine doses had been administered till 7 pm on Thursday.