Delta main variant but Omicron rising, positivity in Kerala, Mizoram a worry, says Health Min

As the Omicron case count reached 358 in India, the Centre said Delta remains the main variant in circulation in India, and red-flagged the test positivity in Kerala and Mizoram as an area of concern.

The health ministry on Friday said that while the world was seeing a positivity of over 6% due to spread of Omicron variant of the coronavirus, India had been reporting a positivity of only 0.6% and below 10,000 daily cases for the past four weeks.

"We have reported 6,992 cases on Friday. While these numbers are low, we must keep our guard up and remain vigilant," Rajesh Bhushan, health secretary, said on Friday.


The health ministry noted that while the world was in the grip of a fourth wave, India has so far seen two Covid-19 waves - in September 2020 and another in May, this year.

"Presently, the cases are on a decline. The case positivity across the world is 6%. In India it is 5.3% and over the last two weeks 0.6%," Bhushan said but added there are regional variations. "In Kerala, case positivity is 6.15% and in Mizoram, 8.2%. This is a cause for concern."

Bhushan said cases had been increasing in Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka and Mizoram. The health ministry expressed concern over Covid-19 spread in 22 districts - 20 districts have a 5-10% positivity and two districts over 10%. These are spread across Kerala, Sikkim, Manipur, West Bengal and Mizoram.

The Centre said even as Omicron cases are increasing in India, Delta is the main variant in circulation and the treatment protocol will remain the same.

Indian Council of Medical Research director general Balram Bhargava said, "The predominant strain in India is Delta, including in recently identified clusters. Therefore, we need to continue with same treatment protocol." He said there was no need to panic as Omicron does not have severe symptoms. "One third of detected cases were mildly symptomatic and the remaining were asymptomatic," Bhargava said.

The Centre also asked the private health sector to review preparedness. "The private sector continues to play a vital role of managing pandemic at the national level. We would appeal to the private sector to audit drugs and oxygen availability," said VK Paul, member (health) at Niti Aayog.