Omicron cases now at 358 in India, new variant is spreading fast: Health Secretary Bhushan

Amid a continuous surge in the new COVID-19 variant Omicron cases in India, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday urged everyone to follow COVID appropriate behaviour to curb the spread of the virus. He also informed how well the country is equipped to tackle the increasing cases. 

In a press briefing, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "The world is witnessing the fourth surge and the overall positivity is 6.1%. Therefore, we have to be on guard and we can't afford to slacken. While Europe, North America & Africa are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases week-on-week, Asia is still witnessing a decline in cases week-on-week."

Giving an update on the current status of Omicron in India, he added that the top five states with the highest number of active cases, at the moment, are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka with 358 Omicron cases been reported in 17 States/UTs of India and 114 people recovered. 

"Ministry of Health and Family Welfare preemptively advised States on 21st December -to impose restrictions like night curfew, regulating large gatherings, increase bed capacity and other logistics and strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behaviour," Bhushan said. 

National Scenario of ICU Beds and Oxygen

Sharing the national scenario of the number of ICU beds and Oxygen, the Health Secretary stated that there are 18,10,083 isolation beds, 4,94,314 O2 supported beds, 1,39,300 ICU beds, 24,057 pediatric ICU beds and 64,796 pediatric non-ICU beds available nationally. About the vaccination, he informed that 89% of the adult population has received the first dose and 61% of the eligible population has received the second dose of COVID19 vaccines.

"There was a 10 fold increase in oxygen demand from 1st wave to 2nd wave. Thus, 18,800 metric tonnes of medical oxygen per day has been arranged for; cause of concern is 11 states where vaccination coverage is less than the national average," he added. 

'Omicron cases double within 1.5-3 days': Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan

Urging everyone to continue COVID appropriate behaviour amid surge in Omicron cases, he said, "WHO on Dec 7 said that Omicron has a significant growth advantage over Delta which means, it has greater transmissibility. Omicron cases double within 1.5-3 days, so we have to remain vigilant with COVID appropriate behaviour. "

Bhushan also said that the treatment protocols for COVID-19 and Delta will apply to Omicron, while the evidence emerges, the immune escape potential for Delta is higher and its high transmission rates will lead to high surge in cases.