India's Omicron tally rises to 415, states impose fresh curbs as cases surge

New Delhi: India's nationwide tally of Omicron cases has climbed to 415, according to a Covid-19 brief issued by the Centre on Saturday morning.

Among this, 115 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry's data update.

Maharashtra has the highest number of Omicron infection with 108, followed by Delhi with 79. Gujarat has 43 cases and Telangana 38. Kerala has a total of 37 Omicron cases, followed by Tamil Nadu with 34. No state in the north-east has reported any Omicron case. 

The Centre has announced its decision to deploy multi-disciplinary Central teams to 10 identified States some of which are either reporting an increasing number of Omicron and Covid 19 cases or slow vaccination pace.

Meanwhile, several curbs have been imposed, including night curfews and limits on large gatherings across the country to curtail the spread of the new variant.

On Friday, the centre had said of 358 cases of Omicron reported till then, 183 were analysed and it was found that 87 of them were fully vaccinated with three having received booster doses while 70 per cent were asymptomatic.

The rise of the Omicron variant has also heralded another pandemic-tinged Christmas for billions across the world, with Santa's arrival and longed-for family reunions overshadowed by the prospect of yet more COVID-19 restrictions.

Gathering of more than five people will not be allowed in Maharashtra between 9 pm and 6 am, the state government has said. Haryana and Delhi have also tightened restrictions this Christmas, though Delhi has allowed places of worship to remain open.

The country's COVID-19 count rose to 3,47,79,815 with 7,189 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, while active cases have declined to 77,032, according to data updated at 8 am.

The number of dead climbed to 4,79,520 with 387 more fatalities, data showed. The daily rise in coronavirus cases has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 58 days now.

The active cases have declined to 77,032 or 0.22 per cent of total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the Health Ministry said.