Delhi's Covid-19 Omicron tally spikes to 165

The total number of Covid-19 Omicron cases recorded in the national capital has spiked to 165, according to data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday.

Amid the Omicron scare, Delhi recorded 331 fresh coronavirus cases — the highest single-day rise since June 9 — and one death on Monday, while the positivity rate mounted to 0.68 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

India has logged 653 cases of the Omicron variant so far, of whom 186 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Tuesday.

At 167, Maharashtra accounted for the maximum number of Omicron cases, followed by Delhi at 165, Kerala 57, Telangana 55, Gujarat 49 and Rajasthan 46.

According to officials of Batra Hospital, five Omicron patients are undergoing treatment while genomic sequencing results of seven patients, who have tested positive, are awaited. Seven others have been discharged after testing negative for Omicron variant, they said.

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Every patient is asymptomatic and all have a travel history. Of 14 patients the hospital has had, 11 had received three shots of the Pfizer vaccine, one person had got Johnson and Johnson vaccine, while one other was inoculated with Covishield and the other had received Covaxin vaccine, officials said.

Four suspected cases of Omicron are admitted to the city hospital unit of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, sources said. All four people have a travel history and are NRIs, and while two came from France, one each had arrived from the UK and Ghana, they said. The genome sequencing reports of these patients are still awaited.

Delhi's first case of the Omicron variant — a 37-year-old man from Ranchi — was detected on December 5. He has been discharged.

Amid a jump in Omicron cases reported in Delhi, doctors have warned that people should avoid all kinds of gatherings as it is a highly transmissible variant, and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, failing which the situation may worsen.

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