New infections of Covid-19 across India are rising faster than they did even during the brutal second wave in April-May last year, indicating that the latest surge fuelled by the Omicron variant may follow the trend seen across the world. India reported 27,553 new COVID-19 cases and 284 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said, last month.
“There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing for Geneva-based journalists, held at its new headquarters building.
According to the ministry, the number of Omicron infections stands at 1,525 and it has spread to 23 states. Maharashtra is the worst-affected state with 460 cases, followed by Delhi with 351. According to experts, data from the world over has shown that despite the rapid rise in the case rate due to Omicron, hospitalisation rates and reports of severe infections have consistently remained low.
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“The week before last (the seven days leading to December 25), the national seven-day average of daily cases was 6,641. It means that in just a week, the rate of new infections have increased by 175%. This is the largest weekly growth seen in the country since April 9, 2020, surpassing even the peak growth rate seen during the second wave, when the number peaked at 75%,” the HT report says. The report predicts that if the current weekly growth rate persists, the case curve may double to 36,000 daily cases within seven days.
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