Omicron threat in India: Cases of 'highly transmissible' COVID variant rise to 236

As per the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of Omicron cases across the country has grown to 236. According to the ministry, 104 of the 236 Omicron patients have recovered.

Telangana has reported 24 new Omicron cases, while Rajasthan has reported 21 new cases. Omicron instances have also been reported in Karnataka (19), Kerala (15), and Gujarat (14). In J&K, three cases of Omicron have been reported. Two instances of Omicron have been reported in each of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh. At least one instance has been documented in Chandigarh, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.

Due to an increase in Omicron cases in India, the Union Health Ministry has issued an alert to states and union territories about the new COVID-19 variation, claiming that Omicron is at least "three times more transmissible" than the Delta variant based on existing scientific findings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a review meeting on December 23 in the wake of an increase in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the country. In response to an increase in instances of the Omicron Coronavirus variant in several parts of the country, the Centre has already pushed states to implement night curfews and carefully manage mass gatherings.

Meanwhile, India's daily COVID-19 instances increased by 749 on Thursday, bringing the total to 7,495. The daily death toll has risen to 434. India's entire COVID-19 caseload has increased to 3.42 crore as a result of this. India reported 5,326 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours on Wednesday, the lowest number in 581 days. On Wednesday, there had been 453 deaths in a single day.

Omicron Is Milder Than Delta: Study

Preliminary evidence from two recent British studies suggests that the novel COVID-19 variation Omicron is milder than Delta. The Imperial College London COVID-19 response team assessed that those infected with the variant are around 20% less likely to be admitted to a hospital at all than those infected with the delta version, and are even 40% less likely to be hospitalized for a night or more. Furthermore, scientists from the University of Edinburgh and other specialists in Scotland discovered that Omicron had a two-thirds reduced chance of hospitalisation than delta in another study.

(with inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI