Omicron scare: Karnataka, 5 other states major worry for India

New Delhi/Bengaluru: As fresh covid cases, fuelled by the omicron variant, keep rising in India every day, six states including Karnataka, have become a major concern.

In the last week, six states – Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka – have reported a massive spike in the active Covid cases along with the daily Covid caseload. These states are reporting over 10,000 active cases.

As per the Health Ministry data, Maharashtra had 15,179 active cases seven days earlier which have risen to 70,005 as of January 5. The number of active cases has risen to 25,475 from 7,457 in just seven days in West Bengal. Kerala has 20,877 active cases presently.

The national capital Delhi has reported over manifold growth in active cases at 14,889 from 1,612 in last week. Karnataka’s active cases tally has reached 13,561 from 7,485, while Tamil Nadu’s number has nearly doubled to 12,412 from 6,537.

Besides the six states are reporting over 10,000 active cases, two states have between 5,00-10,000 active cases and 28 states have below 5,000 active cases as of January 5, as per the Health Ministry report.

“Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Gujarat are the states of concern where there has been a rise in the Covid cases. Total 28 districts in the country are reporting more than 10 percent weekly positivity,” said Joint Secretary, Health, Lav Agarwal, at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Out of the 28 districts reporting over 10 percent weekly positivity rate, Mizoram has eight and West Bengal has six. Among others, Maharashtra has four and Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Haryana two districts each. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab have one district each which has over 10 percent weekly positivity rate. Total 43 districts are reporting a weekly positivity rate between five to ten percent, as per the Health Ministry data.

In total, India has reported more than 6.3 times increase in daily Covid cases in the last eight days. A sharp surge in the positivity rate has also been observed from 0.79 percent on December 29 to 5.03 percent on January 5, as per the ministry.

India on Thursday saw a massive spike in daily Covid infection as it registered a total of 90,928 new cases in 24 hours. With the 325 new deaths, the total death toll has climbed to 4,82,876. The active caseload has jumped to 2,85,401 which constitutes 0.81 percent of the country’s total positive cases.

India’s Omicron infection tally has also climbed to 2,630. However, out of the total, 995 have been discharged from hospitals. So far a total of 26 states have reported Omicron infections.

(With inputs from IANS)