Addressing a press conference on Thursday in Delhi on the Covid-19 situation in India and the rising Omicron variant cases, joint secretary, Union Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal said that from Dec 26 onwards, there has been a huge surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in India, with the number of active cases reaching over 10,000.
On average, India reported more than 8,000 cases per day last week, he said, whereas, the overall positivity rate stood at 0.92%.
The health ministry further said that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, and Gujarat are emerging as states/union territories of concern based on weekly Covid-19 cases and positivity rate.
The ministry informed that as many as eight districts are reporting weekly positivity rates of over 10 per cent; six in Mizoram, one in Arunachal Pradesh, and one in Bengal. While 14 districts are reporting a positivity rate between 5-10%. The positivity rate in Kolkata is at 12.5%.
On the vaccination front, he said that approximately 90% of the adult population in India has been vaccinated against Covid-19 with the first dose.
Quoting the World Health Organisation, Agarwal said that as per evidence, the Omicron variant has a growth advantage over Delta with a doubling time of 2-3 days.
The Joint Secretary further said that the states and district authorities should increase surveillance, contact tracing and attain 100 percent vaccination to curb Covid-19.
Notably, On Thursday, India reported 13,154 new Covid-19 cases, the number of active cases stands at 82,402 cases, while the death toll rose to 4,80,860.
Meanwhile, India's Omicron tally on Thursday stood at 961, with Delhi reporting 263 cases and Maharashtra 252. Of the 961 cases, 320 patients have recovered.
ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava, who also attended the press conference said that all COVID vaccines, whether they are from India, Israel, US, Europe, UK or China, are primarily disease-modifying.
“They don't prevent infection. The precautionary dose is primarily to mitigate the severity of infection, hospitalization, & death,” he said
Bhargava also asserted that the use of masks before and after vaccination is a must and mass gatherings should be avoided. “The treatment guidelines for the earlier and the currently circulating strains of coronavirus remain the same. Home isolation remains an important pillar,” he added.
(with agency inputs)
