New Delhi: The number of cases of fast-spreading Omicron variant has risen to 1,270 in India, with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain.
Maharashtra - which also has reported the most number of coronavirus cases - has 450 cases of the new variant. 125 people have recovered in the state so far, according to the Health Ministry.
The western state is followed by Delhi, which has 320 cases (of which 57 have recovered). While Gujarat has 97 cases and 42 people have recovered so far, neighbouring Rajasthan has 69 cases of the new strain and 47 recoveries.
The Centre and the state governments have already urged the people to be cautious and follow all Coronavirus related guidelines. Most states such as Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, have reinforced several Covid-19 restrictions, including night curfews and ban on mass gatherings among various other rules.
India also reported a 27 per cent jump in fresh COVID-19 cases as it reported 16,764 fresh infections today.
Active caseload currently stands at 91,361. and active cases account for less than 1 per cent of total cases, currently at 0.26 per cent As per the Ministry's report, a total of 7,585 people recovered or were discharged in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the recovery rate is currently at 98.36 per cent and positivity rate (1.34 per cent) is less than 2 per cent for last 88 days.
The weekly Positivity Rate (0.89 per cent) is less than 1 per cent for last 47 days.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation' s (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the Omicron variant is very transmissible and is leading to a tsunami of COVID cases.
Dr Tedros during a media briefing said, "Right now Delta and Omicron are twin threats that are driving up cases to record numbers, which again is leading to spikes in hospitalisations and deaths."
Dr Tedros also said that this virus will continue to evolve and threaten health systems if the collective response is not improved.