Omicron cases rise to 1,892 in India, Maha worst-hit
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Jan, 2022 12:18 PM
New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) With 192 new cases of highly transmissible Covid variant Omicron detected in the last 24 hours, India's Omicron tally on Tuesday rose to 1,892 cases.
With 127 Omicron infected people discharged in the last 24 hours, a total 766 people have recovered from the new strain so far.
Maharashtra and Delhi continue to be the worst-hit states with this new variant.
Among total 23 states and union territories that have reported the Omicron infection so far, Maharashtra tops the list with 568 cases of this variant. Of them, 259 patients have been discharged as per the health ministry data on Tuesday.
The national capital, Delhi has the second highest cases of Omicron infection at 382. However, 57 of them have been discharged from the hospital. Delhi is followed by Kerala with 185 Omicron cases. The Union health ministry on Tuesday morning said that the Omicron infection has so far spread into 23 states and UTs.
Among other states, Rajasthan has detected 174 Omicron infection with 88 discharged so far. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have so far reported 152 and 121 cases of Omicron respectively.
Telangana continues with 67 Omicron patients. In Karnataka, 64 people so far have been detected with Omicron infection while the number of infection remains 63 in Haryana and 37 and 20 cases respectively in Odisha and West Bengal. Andhra Pradesh also continues with 17 Omicron patients so far.
However, the Omicron case count continues in single digit for Madhya Pradesh at nine and Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand at eight cases each. Goa has reported four more cases of Omicron taking the tally to five. Chandigarh and Jammu & Kashmir also continue with three cases each. Andaman and Nicobar Islands also continue with two cases so far. Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, Manipur and Punjab continue with one case of this variant each so far.
Most experts believe India’s official toll of 414,000 dead was a vast undercount, but the government has dismissed those concerns. A report released Tuesday estimates excess deaths to be 3 million to 4.7 million between January 2020 and this June.
Rejecting all opposition to his elevation, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the party's new Punjab unit President along with four Working Presidents.
Calling the reports of alleged snooping on prominent citizens using Israeli Pegasus spyware as "baseless", the ruling BJP on Monday said there is not a single shred of evidence so far that links either the central government or the party to this controversy.
Congress MPs from both Houses had met on Sunday afternoon at Rajya Sabha member Pratap Singh Bajwa's residence to discuss the issues related to Punjab and sought an appointment with Gandhi.
Apart from reviewing the security arrangements in the national capital, the Delhi Police have also strengthened the security in and around the Red Fort ahead of the Independence Day.
Police said acting on a specific information, Budgam Police along with the Army's 53 RR and 43 BN of the CRPF arrested one local terrorist linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT and recovered incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including one Chinese pistol, one magazine, eight live pistol rounds from his possession.
