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Amid the arrival of the Omicron variant in India, the Covid-19 cases have seen a big jump in the country. The record big spike was largely seen in Mumbai, Delhi, and Gujarat on Wednesday--the highest since the May-June period. Whereas Punjab reported its first cases of Covid-19 yesterday.
According to the union ministry of health, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country has crossed 10,000-mark. The last time had reported 10,000 and above cases were on November 26.
Whereas, the country's Omicron caseload has increased to 781 so far out of which 241 people have recovered or migrated.
In Maharashtra, a total of 252 people have been infected from Omicron cases of which 85 cases appeared on Wednesday.
Maharashtra was followed by Delhi(238), Gujarat (97), Rajasthan(69), Kerala(65), and Telangana(62) among those with over 50 Omicron cases, according to official data from the Centre and the states.
Mumbai reported 2,510 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest daily addition since May 8, and one death, taking its tally to 7,75,808 and toll to 16,375, a civic official said.
The spike in Covid cases in Mumbai has got pronounced since December 20, when just 283 cases were reported. Tuesday had witnessed 1,377 cases in the metropolis, and Wednesday's figure was a jump by over 80%, the official pointed out.
On May 8, Mumbai had seen 2,678 coronavirus cases when the second wave of the pandemic was at its peak.
Delhi logged 923 new coronavirus cases, the highest since May 30. On May 30, Delhi had recorded 946 Covid cases and 78 deaths.
Gujarat reported 548 new coronavirus cases crossing the 500-mark for the first time after more than six-and-a-half months, raising its overall tally to 8,30,505.
The state had last reported more than 500 cases at 544 on June 10. Gujarat has witnessed a sharp jump in its daily Covid-19 cases over the last few days, recording 177 infections on Sunday, 204 on Monday, 394 on Tuesday, and now 548.
Meanwhile, The Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia INSACOG said there is now clear experimental and clinical data supporting a very high immune escape potential of Omicron, but initial estimates show the severity of the illness being lower than previous outbreaks.
"While Delta continues to be the most prevalent VOC (Variant of Concern) globally, the Omicron variant has completely displaced it in southern Africa and is on track to become the dominant variant in the UK and elsewhere," the INSACOG said.
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