India Registers 358 Cases of Omicron Variant, Maharashtra Tops the List

As one after another state in India is falling under the grip of Omicron variant of COVID-19, Uttarakhand reported first case of the virus on Thursday. The total cases of Omicron in India reached 358 with Maharashtra having highest numbers of cases with 88.

According to government data, followed by Maharashtra is Delhi with 68 cases of Omicron while Telangana reports 38 cases, Tamil Nadu (34), Karnataka (31), Gujarat (30), Kerala (27), Rajasthan (22), Haryana (4), Odisha (4), Jammu and Kashmir (3), West Bengal (3), Andhra Pradesh (2), Uttar Pradesh (2), Chandigarh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand reported 1 case each of the new variant.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening chaired a review meeting with the Chief Ministers of the states amid the rise of cases of COVID-19 and Omicron variant in India.

In view of the new variant detected in India, we should be Satark and Saavdhan, the PM directed. The fight against the pandemic in India is not over, he said, and the need for continued adherence to COVID safe behaviour is of paramount importance even today.

PM directed the officials to ensure that the health systems in the states, beginning from the district level, are strengthened to meet any challenge posed by the new variant. It is important for States to ensure that the Oxygen supply equipments are installed and fully functional, he instructed the officials. He directed the officials to work with the states on a regular basis and review the status of preparedness of various components of health infrastructure including training and capacity building of human resources, timely availability of ambulances, readiness of states to operationalise COVID facilities for institutional quarantining, and effective and supervised monitoring of those in home isolation. He also directed officials for effective use of IT tools for tele-medicine and tele-consultation.

Heightened and close monitoring of emerging clusters and hotspots through and active, prompt and effective surveillance should continue, he stated. He directed for sending a good number of positive samples for genome sequencing to INSACOG Labs in a prompt manner. PM also directed to for accelerating the testing to ensure quick identification of cases for timely containment and treatment. Focus should also be on effective contact tracing for curbing spread of the transmission, he stated. PM directed officials that the Central Government should send teams to states with low vaccination, rising cases, insufficient health infrastructure to assist them improve the situation.

The PM was apprised of the progress in vaccination across the country. He was apprised that more than 88% of the eligible population in India is administered the first dose of COVID19 vaccine and more than 60% of the eligible population has received the second dose.  Officials briefed PM that the door-to-door Har Ghar Dastak vaccination campaign to mobilise and vaccinate people has been able to motivate people to take the COVID 19 vaccine, and has shown encouraging results in boosting vaccine coverage. PM directed that States need to ensure that the eligible population is fully vaccinated against COVID19, and to proceed to meet the target in a saturation mode.

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