Covid-19: India reports 1.17 lakh new cases; global tally surpasses 300m

India on Friday reported 1,17,100 new cases of COVID-19, a week after the country crossed the 10,000 mark, as the virus continued to spread at an unprecedented pace, largely driven by the Omicron variant now present in 27 states.

This is the first time in seven months that daily cases crossed the one-lakh mark in the country. On June 6, 2021, India had reported 1,14,460 new cases. The 28 per cent jump in new cases today has pushed the country's total caseload to 3.52 crore.

With a single-day jump of 377 Omicron, India now has 3,007 cases of the new variant of coronavirus. Omicron has been reported in 27 states, with the most cases in Maharashtra with 876 cases, followed by Delhi with 465 infections.

As many as 302 people have died of Covid during the past 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry. This includes 221 deaths in Kerala in the last few months, added based on pending appeals after the last Supreme Court guidelines.

The country's R naught value that indicates the spread of the infection is 2.69, higher than the 1.69 recorded during the peak of the pandemic's second wave. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India's top medical body, has said that "the Omicron variant is the predominant circulating strain"

The Omicron variant is killing people across the globe and should not be dismissed as mild, the World Health Organization has said.

With several cities imposing coronavirus curfews and health experts warning of exponential infection growth, several parties have brought their public campaigns to a halt.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the record numbers of people catching the new variant meant hospitals were being overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University's latest database has revealed that the global coronavirus caseload has surpassed the grim milestone of 300 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.47 million and vaccinations to over 9.33 billion.

In its update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 300,095,481 and 5,472,039, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 9,336,622,344.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 58,487,665 and 833,987, according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (35,109,286 infections and 482,876 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,328,252 infections and 619,654 deaths).