25 Omicron cases thus far in the country: Govt

A top Health Ministry official on Friday informed that a total of 25 cases of Omicron, the new Covid variant, has been detected thus far in the country. The 25 cases are spread across five states: Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat. Karnataka and Delhi. Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal further added that the patients have mild symptoms.

Initially, only two countries had reported Omicron cases till November 24. However, now it has been reported across 59 countries. There are reportedly 2,936 Omicron cases worldwide. Furthermore, there are 78,054 probable cases where genome sequencing is underway to identify the variant, Agarwal added.

"Regular meetings are being organised to keep a watch on global scenario and Covid scene in India with a focus on Omicron. District level restrictions to be implemented where positivity rate is over 5 per cent," said Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Balram Bhargava.

Regarding the Covid situation in the country, Agarwal stated that the overall Covid positivity rate has been 0.73 per cent. Furthermore, the daily caseload has been below 10,000 for the past 14 days. Kerala and Maharashtra allegedly have the highest number of Cases; while Kerala accounts for 43 per cent of active cases, Maharashtra accounts for over 10 per cent. Over half of the adult population in the country is also allegedly now fully vaccinated. About 53.5 per cent of the adult population have received both doses of the covid vaccine.