India's Omicron tally reaches 2,630; 26 states now have cases of the new variant

India’s tally of Omicron-positive cases went up by nearly 500 on Thursday morning to reach 2,630, according to the Union health ministry update. The new variant of coronavirus has now reached 26 states, the health ministry update further showed.

Maharashtra continues to be the leading contributor with 797 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi (465), Rajasthan (236), Kerala (234), Karnataka (226) and Gujarat (204).

Tamil Nadu too has more than 100 cases of the new variant (121 to be exact). Telangana is also close to 100-mark, with 94 Omicron cases.

The new variant has led to a massive surge in India’s Covid-19 tally, which reached close to one lakh on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, the number was 58,097.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Wednesday that Omicron is the predominant circulating strain in India.

"Omicron is the predominant circulating strain in cities in the country. Mass gatherings should be avoided to lower the speed of this spread," Dr Bhargava said during the briefing of the health ministry.

The ministry said that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Gujarat are states of concern where there has been a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases.

Assam on Wednesday reported its first Omicron case after a Saudi Arabia returnee tested positive for the new coronavirus variant.

The daily number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital almost doubled on Wednesday, rising to 10,655 infections from 5,481 a day earlier, with the positivity rate shooting up to 11.88 per cent.

The data of the health department further showed that 65 per cent of Covid samples in Delhi, whose genome sequencing reports came out between January 1 and 3, were found to have the Omicron variant as against 28 per cent from December 1 to 31.

India also reported its first confirmed death due to Omicron on Wednesday. A 73-year-old man had died in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on December 31, but the fatality was reassigned as being linked to Covid-19 yesterday.

The man was suffering from multiple comorbidities.