101 Omicron reported across 11 states in India, here’s what Health Ministry said

There are 101 Omicron cases in 11 states, with daily COVID-19 cases falling below 10,000 over the previous 20 days. In Maharashtra, 32 instances were reported, 22 in Delhi, 17 in Rajasthan, 8 in Karnataka and Telangana, 5 in Gujarat and Kerala, and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. According to the Health Ministry, individuals must stay watchful in light of the Omicron variety, growing instances in other countries, and avoid unnecessary travel, big gatherings, and low-intensity festivals.

“Omicron variant reported in 91 countries in the world. WHO has said that Omicron is spreading faster than the Delta variant in South Africa where Delta circulation was low. It’s likely Omicron will outpace Delta variant where community transmission occurs, WHO added,” said Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.

There is no evidence to suggest that vaccines are not effective against the Omicron variant of coronavirus, said Agarwal.

The Health Ministry has also said that districts with over 5 per cent COVID-19 case positivity rate need to ensure restrictive measures until it’s below 5 per cent for at least 2 weeks.

The case positivity for the last 1 week was 0.65 per cent with Kerala contributing 40.31 per cent to the total number of active cases in the country.

He further said that India is administering COVID-19 vaccine doses at the highest rate in the world and the daily rate of doses administered is 4.8 times the rate of doses administered in the USA and 12.5 times the rate of doses administered in the UK.

On Omicron threat, Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said that a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is being experienced in Europe with a steep rise in cases.

He also said that genome sequencing of every sample is not possible as it is a surveillance and pandemic assessment and tracking tool, not a diagnostic tool as of now.

We can assure sufficient systematic sampling is being undertaken, he added.

On anti-viral COVID-19 pills, Dr Bhargava said that they have found that these tablets need to be given very early, even before the diagnosis of the disease.

Scientific data is still not supported in a big way that the pills will be useful at the moment, he added.