From 350 to 961: India’s Omicron tally rises by over 600 cases in just six days

The new highly-mutated variant of coronavirus, Omicron, is rapidly spreading in India and there’s nowhere to hide. As of 30 December, the nation’s Omicron case tally has risen to 961, with 263 cases in Delhi and 252 in Maharashtra. Of the 961 cases, 320 Omicron cases have recovered or been discharged. With Punjab reporting its first Omicron case after a 36-year-old man, who came from Spain earlier this month tested positive for the new variant, the number of states and union territories where this highly contagious strain has been detected rose to 22. With the Omicron spread, India’s COVID-19 tally has also risen exponentially and on Thursday, the caseload had seen a jump of 13,154. The last time the daily rise in cases was over 10,000 was on 26 November — with 10,549 infections. Take a look at where the country stands in regards to coronavirus and the new variant. New Delhi: Delhi on Wednesday reported a massive jump in daily COVID-19 infections with 923 fresh cases, the highest since May 30 and 86 percent up from a day earlier. After six months, the positivity rate crossed 1 per cent as it was recorded at 1.29 per cent. On December 20, there were only 91 COVID-19 cases in the national capital and the figure climbed to nearly 1,000-mark with fresh 923 infections on Wednesday. The city also recorded 238 Omicron cases on Wednesday. There were 165 cases of the new variant a day earlier. For those still wondering about the rise in cases, here’s a simple fact: In a week’s time, the positivity rate of coronavirus cases jumped to 1.29 per cent from 0.19 per cent in Delhi. The spike in cases has also led the authorities to impose a ‘yellow alert’ in the national capital, which has led to the closure of schools and education institutions, restaurants to function at half capacity, closure of cinema halls and theatres and public transport such as the Metro to function at 50 percent seating capacity. Incidentally, six days ago, Delhi’s Omicron count stood at 67 and the overall daily COVID-19 count was 180. Maharashtra: The western state reported 85 fresh cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the highest single-day tally recorded so far by any state in the country, taking the overall count to 252. Mumbai has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases for the past few days and Wednesday was no different. Mumbai reported 2,510 fresh COVID cases, the highest daily addition since 8 May, and one death, taking its tally to 7,75,808 and toll to 16,375, a civic official said. The spike in the country’s financial capital has got pronounced since 20 December, when just 283 cases were reported. Tuesday had witnessed 1,377 cases in the metropolis, and Wednesday’s figure was a jump by over 80 percent, an official pointed out. Gujarat: Officials in the state are on high alert after it reported 548 new COVID-19 cases crossing the 500-mark for the first time after more than six-and-a-half months, raising its overall tally to 8,30,505, while one more patient succumbed to the infection in the state. Gujarat has witnessed a sharp jump in its daily COVID cases over the last few days, recording 177 infections on Sunday, 204 on Monday, 394 on Tuesday and now 548. Also, the state ranks third in regards to Omicron infections — 97. Karnataka: Karnataka recorded 566 new cases of which, Bengaluru alone accounted for 400, pushing the total number of active cases in the state to 7,771. The state’s Omicron count also stands at 43 after five new cases were detected on Wednesday. The spike in cases has forced authorities to clamp down on New year celebrations after 10 pm in public places. Punjab: The state reported its first Omicron case. According to officials, Punjab’s positivity rate stands at 0.3 percent and has increased slightly over the past few days. Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu reported 739 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, an increase from 619 cases on Tuesday. Additionally, with 11 more infections, the state’s Omicron count is now at 45. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.