India reports 653 new Omicron cases; Maharashtra logs maximum number of infections, followed by Delhi

New Delhi: India has logged 653 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 21 states and UTs so far out of which 186 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 167 cases followed by Delhi at 165, Kerala 57, Telangana 55, Gujarat 49 and Rajasthan 46. With 6,358 people testing positive for coronavirus infections in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,47,99,691. The active cases have declined to 75,456, according to the data updated at 8 am. The death toll has climbed to 4,80,290 with 293 fresh fatalities, the data stated. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 61 days now. The active cases have declined to 75,456 comprising 0.22 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.40 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. A decrease of 385 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.