COVID-19: India logs 1,68,063 new cases and 277 deaths; Omicron tally jumps to 4,461

With surging COVID-19 cases followed by a concerning spread of Omicron variant, India on Tuesday reported 1,68,063 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. With a slight dip of 6.5% in infections compared to Monday, the total caseload has jumped to 3,58,75,790. Apart from that, India has also recorded 277 COVID deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 4,84,213. Similarly, India's Omicron tally has jumped to 4,461 cases.

Meanwhile, with an increase of 97,827 active coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, India's total active caseload also stands at 8,21,446 and it constitutes around 2.29% of the total cases. A total of 69,959 patients have recovered, taking the total recovery tally to 3,45,70,131 across the country, while the recovery rate stands at 96.36%. 

Notably, with the mounting number of COVID-19 and Omicron cases, five states including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have contributed the maximum number of cases. While Maharashtra leads the tally with 33,470 COVID cases in the last 24 hours, it was followed by West Bengal with 19,286, Delhi with 19,166, Tamil Nadu with 13,990, and Karnataka with 11,698 cases.

With around 58.08% percent of the new cases have been in these five states, Maharashtra alone is responsible for 19.92% of cases. 

India administers over 9 lakh precautionary doses on Monday

Amid mounting COVID-19 cases, India has administered more than 9 lakh precautionary doses of COVID-19 vaccines on the first day to healthcare and frontline workers followed by those above the age of 60 across the country. During this while, the Health Ministry also urged more people to come forward and get vaccinated. 

The CoWIN portal also sent over one crore reminders to the beneficiaries to receive their 'Precaution Dose' positively. While the online booking of appointments for precautionary doses started on Saturday, the ministry clarified that there is no need for new registration for the 'Precaution Dose'.

Notably, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in a fresh advisory stated that contacts of confirmed COVID cases don't need to get tested unless identified as "high risk" based on their age or comorbidities.

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