India recorded 1,94,720 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday morning, taking the overall tally to 3,60,70,510 since the pandemic began in the country in January 2020. The number of new cases was 15.86% more than Tuesday’s count of 1,68,063 cases.
The active cases increased to 9,55,319. The daily positivity rate stood at 11.05%.
The nationwide toll increased to 4,84,655 as 442 persons died due to the infection in the last 24 hours.
As many as 60,405 people recovered from the disease on Wednesday, taking the total to 3,46,30,536. The recovery rate stood at 96.01%.
Cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus rose to 4,868 from Tuesday’s tally of 4,461 infections. The new strain is now present in all 28 states.
The most number of Omicron cases have been reported from Maharashtra (1,281) followed by Rajasthan (645) and Delhi (546). A total of 1,805 people have recovered or have been discharged from hospitals after having tested negative for the variant.
Omicron is taking over the Delta variant of the virus and becoming the dominant strain around the world, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the Covid-19 technical lead at the World Health Organization.
The World Health Organization said that health experts may have to update existing vaccines to target emerging variants like Omicron, The Guardian reported. The global health body warned that repeating booster doses of the same vaccine may not be a feasible strategy to combat the virus.
India on Monday began administering precautionary third doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers, and senior citizens with co-morbidities.
Meanwhile, 153.80 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country since the vaccination drive began on January 16.
Cases rise in major states
Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala reported a rise in cases on Tuesday.
The Capital registered 21,259 new coronavirus cases, an almost 11% increase from Monday’s tally of 19,166 infections. The city reported 23 deaths, the highest since June 13.
The city’s positivity rate also rose marginally from 25% on Monday to 25.65% on Tuesday. This is the highest positivity rate for Delhi since May 5.
Meanwhile, Kerala reported 9,066 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday. The single-day caseload was 56.39% higher than Monday’s tally of 5,797 infections. West Bengal recorded 21,098 new infections. The count was 9.39% higher than Monday’s number.
Tamil Nadu saw 15,379 cases on Tuesday, a 9.92% rise from Monday’s count of 13,990 cases. Of the total cases, Chennai alone recorded 6,484 cases.
While cases increased in other states, Mumbai saw a decline in its single-day count of infections for the fourth day.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra’s capital recorded 11,647 cases – a dip of 17.1% from Monday’s tally of 13,648.
The positivity rate in the city also dropped to 18.75% from over 23% a day ago. This is despite 2,855 more Covid-19 tests being conducted in the last 24 hours.
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