COVID: Maha, WB, TN, Delhi, K’taka, Guj emerge as places of concern

In a press conference on Thursday, the health ministry 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.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry said that India has reported 961 cases of Omicron so far, out of which, 320 patients have recovered.

Agarwal noted that India had reported more than 8,000 cases per day last week on an average. Since December 26, India has been reporting 10,000 cases on a daily basis. The overall case positivity rate stands at 0.92%.


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.

A weekly positivity rate of more than 10% is being noted in eight districts, including six from Mizoram, one from Arunachal Pradesh, Kolkata in West Bengal. “The weekly case positivity rate is between 5-10% in 14 districts,” Agarwal added.

Quoting the World Health Organisation, Agarwal said that as per evidence, Omicron variant has a growth advantage over Delta with a doubling time of 2-3 days.

It was also informed that the government will send an SMS to the eligible elderly population to remind them for taking the precautionary dose that starts from January 10.

ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava 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.