COVID-19: India records 33K+ cases; Omicron tally reaches 1,700
India on Monday added 175 new COVID-19 cases involving the Omicron variant. Maharashtra topped the list of worst-hit states with 510 total Omicron cases, followed by Delhi (351 cases). Overall, India reported over 33,000 COVID-19 cases on Monday. The active caseload rose to 1.45 lakh, accounting for 0.42% of the total cases. Currently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.20%.
- India has been witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases lately.
- From reporting a mere 6,531 cases on December 26, daily infections in India have now crossed the 30,000-mark.
- After recording a steep decline for weeks, the active caseload also surged past the 1,00,000-mark.
- Meanwhile, India expanded its vaccination drive to include children aged between 15 and 18 years on Monday.
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,49,22,882 COVID-19 cases till Monday morning. The death toll reached 4,81,893. With 10,846 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stand at 3,42,95,407. In the past 24 hours, 33,750 new cases and 123 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.68%, while the daily positive rate is at 3.84%.
India's second wave peaked on May 7, when 4.14 lakh single-day cases were reported, over four times the number of cases reported during the first wave in mid-September 2020. Although infections have declined since the second wave peaked, India crossed the three crore-mark on June 23. India had crossed the one crore-mark on December 19, 2020, and the 2 crore-mark on May 4, 2021.
Maharashtra reported 11,877 new COVID-19 cases along with 2,069 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 2,802 new cases and 2,606 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 1,187 new cases and 275 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 1,594 new cases and 624 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 165 new cases and 130 recoveries.
Till 1 pm on Monday, India administered over 145.8 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, nearly 61 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 84.8 crore people have received at least one dose. On Monday alone, India administered more than 34 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 1 pm, including over 12 lakh second doses and roughly 22 lakh first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Meanwhile, India's tally of Omicron cases has reached 1,700, with cases detected in 23 states and union territories. The worst-affected regions include Maharashtra (510 Omicron cases), Delhi (351), Kerala (156), Gujarat (136), Tamil Nadu (121), Rajashthan (120), Telangana (67), and Karnataka (64).
India kicked off the much-awaited COVID-19 vaccination for children aged between 15 and 18 years on Monday. As of 1 pm, nearly 19 lakh teenagers in that age group had registered on the government's Co-WIN portal to get vaccinated. They will be inoculated with India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN. Notably, COVAXIN was cleared for inoculating children aged 12-18 years in December 2021.
