Omicron covid variant

Of the total, 995 people have so far recovered, the Ministry said, adding that the variant has been detected in 26 states and UTs till date. Maharashtra tops the list with 797 Omicron cases, of which 330 patients have been discharged. The state reported 144 new Omicron cases in the last 24 hours.

The Omicron variant, being highly transmissible, has the potential to evade vaccine immunity. Data from various countries like South Africa and the UK has shown that it causes only mild illness. But as Omicron can surge infection cases, it can overwhelm an already burdened medical system.

The Covid cases nearly tripled in a week. The country recorded around 1.3 lakh fresh cases during the week (December 27 - January 2), whereas, the tally for the week (December 20 - December 26) was at 46,073, the lowest tally recorded since May 2020. This week's tally of cases was also the highest since October 4 - 10.

Bhargava said that the new Omicron Covid variant is highly contagious compared to the Delta variant and stressed that vaccination is important to fight the infection better. He also pointed that the vaccine can provide better protection but does not prevent the virus from infecting people.

Among the 23 states and UTs that have reported the Omicron infection so far, Maharashtra tops the list with 450 cases of this variant. Of them, 125 patients have been discharged as per the health ministry data. Delhi has the second highest cases of Omicron infection at 320. However, 57 of them have been discharged from the hospital. Delhi is followed by Kerala with 109 Omicron cases. The Union health ministry on Friday morning said that the Omicron infection has so far spread into 23 states and UTs.

A 52-year-old man in Pimpri Chinchwad, infected with Omicron,  reportedly died due to heart attack on December 28. However, the state health authorities have denied the Omicron infection to be the cause of death. The Pune health department authorities have refused to consider him as the first casualty of the new variant and stressed that the fatality was caused because of other underlying health conditions.

The new Covid infections registered were nearly double the daily tally of Covid cases recorded in the past two days. India witnessed a rise in infection by over 40% for two consecutive days. On Tuesday, the daily tally rose by nearly 47% with around 9,155, cases from the previous day's tally of around 6,242 cases.  

With the addition of the new fatalities, the total death toll has climbed at 4,80,860. Meanwhile, the Omicron infection tally has climbed at 961 across the nation, of 320 patients have been discharged from hospitals. A total of 22 states have reported detected the new variant, the Ministry confirmed.

The tracker had aptly predicted the devastating second wave in May and had also forecast in August that India would see a slow burn in its Covid infections. "It is likely that India will see a period of explosive growth in daily cases and that the intense growth phase will be relatively short," Paul Kattuman, Professor at the Judge Business School at the varsity was quoted as saying to Bloomberg.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) advised the regulatory board to grant the EUA considering the emergency situation in the country and unmet medical need in Covid-19, according to the Health Ministry. The regulatory board permitted the manufacturing and marketing of 200 mg capsules of molnupiravir with a recommended dose of 800 mg twice daily for 5 days, the ministry added.