Maharashtra minister says 'lockdown stage' approaching but CM Thackeray to take final call

Maharashtra disaster management minister Vijay Wadettiwar said, on Friday, that the stage of imposing a fresh lockdown in the state is approaching, but ultimately Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will take a call on it. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stated that 10 ministers and over 20 members of the state Legislative Assembly have tested COVID-19 positive in the state.

On December 29, Tribal Development Minister KC Padavi and School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad had confirmed that they had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and were under isolation. 

Omicron cases on the rise 

While Maharashtra has reported the highest number of Omicron cases at 454, Delhi's Omicron count crossed over 350. On 1 January 2022, the Ministry of Health informed that 488 out of 1,431 patients diagnosed with the 'highly transmissible' have recuperated from the infection. Tamil Nadu reported 118 Omicron infections and Gujarat has reported 115 cases of the new COVID-19 variant.

The states are followed by Kerala at 109, Rajasthan at 69, Telangana at 62, Haryana at 37, Karnataka at 34, Andhra Pradesh at 17, West Bengal at 17, Odisha at 14, Madhya Pradesh at 9, Uttar Pradesh at 8, Uttarakhand at 4, Chandigarh at 3, Jammu and Kashmir at 3, Andaman Nicobar Islands at 2, Goa at 1, Himachal Pradesh at 1, Ladakh at 1, Manipur at 1 and Punjab at 1. 

India's Omicron tally climbs to 1,431

With Mumbai reporting 454 fresh cases of the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, the country's total tally has climbed to 1,431. While Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases, it is followed by Delhi with 361 cases, Kerala at 109, Gujarat at 115, Rajasthan at 69 cases, Telangana at 62 cases and Haryana at 37.

The country's COVID-19 active caseload rose to 1,04,781 with 22,775 new cases in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry informed on January 1.