Delhi Stares At Lockdown As 84% Samples Test Positive For Omicron In The Capital

Eighty-four per cent of all COVID-19 samples tested in Delhi are of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Delhi healtth minister Satyender Jain said today.

Genome sequencing reports of December 30-31 have found Omicron strain in 84 per cent of samples, Health Minister Satyendar Jain told news agency PTI.

He said though there is a spike in new cases, the situation is under control as not many people are developing severe diseases or require hospitalisation.

"As per genome sequencing reports of December 30-31 from three labs - at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, Lok Nayak Hospital and National Centre for Disease Control - 84 per cent samples were infected with Omicron. Most of the cases are of Omicron," he said in the Delhi Assembly.

PTI

According to the health bulletin to be issued later on Monday, the capital has recorded around 4,000 new cases of coronavirus and the positivity rate has increased to 6.5 per cent, the minister said.

Jain said some experts have said the cases will peak in a week but it's conjecture.

Delhi on Sunday witnessed its highest single-day spike since May 20, 2021, with 3,194 new coronavirus cases recorded in a day.

Red alert soon?

The national capital is under restrictions implemented as part of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which has kept Delhi in the ＆yellow＊ alert category. In this, cinema halls and theatres are closed, and so are other places of gathering. Night curfew is also in place, from 10pm to 5am.

According to GRAP, if Covid-19 positivity rate crosses the five per cent mark and stays above it for two consecutive days, Delhi will be put under ＆Red＊ alert.

PTI

This means that there would be total curfew 每 night as well as weekend 每 on the movement of people. However, there will be certain exemptions based on the categories decided by the government.

Cases surge across country

Meanwhile, as many as 1,700 cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been detected across 23 states and Union Territories so far, out of which 639 have recovered or migrated, as per the Union health ministry's data updated today.

Maharashtra has recorded the maximum number of 510 cases, followed by Delhi (351), Kerala (156), Gujarat (136), Tamil Nadu (121) and Rajasthan (120).

India's Covid-19 caseload rose to 3,49,22,882 with 33,750 fresh cases, while the active cases increased to 1,45,582, according to the data updated at 8 am.

Meanwhile, cities across the country today kick-started the Covid vaccination for teenagers, aged between 15 to 18 years.