iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Omicorn in India is slowly yet steadily on the rise, as the country has logged 653 cases of the Omicron variant. The last two days have seen a steep surge of nearly 40% from Sunday’s (December 26) tally of 422.
Fortunately, 186 of the affected have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday, December 28.
While the fear of the third wave is looming in the air, the government and the authorities are yet to place any hard measures to prevent the spread.
This comes at a time when there is an upcoming election in the state of Uttar Pradesh that is scheduled to be held next year. A team of Election Commission officials, including chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra, will be visiting the state today (December 28) to take stock of the preparedness ahead of assembly elections.
The Indian government shouldn’t forget the consequences of the spread of the second wave due to gross mismanagement and ignorance during the West Bengal elections, where rallies were held without any care or concern.
On this note, the Allahabad high court had urged the government, last Thursday and the poll panel to consider postponing the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for a month or two amid fears of the Covid-19 third wave. The bench has also suggested banning all political rallies to avoid crowding.
As the holiday seasons are here, pictures of crowded markets in Delhi and unmasked Christmas celebrations in Kolkata have set alarm bells ringing and brought back grim memories of the second wave.
Delhi has activated the graded action plan prepared earlier this year to tackle surges in infections. From 11 pm today, a night curfew will remain in place in the national capital. The decision to bring back the night curfew was taken after Delhi reported 290 cases yesterday. If the spike continues, a yellow alert will kick in.
The Prime Minister has asked officials to remain alert and vigilant. He has also announced that India will start giving booster shots to frontline workers and those above 60 from January 10 and that vaccinations will begin for children between 15 and 18 years from January 3.
Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 167 cases followed by Delhi at 165, Kerala 57, Telangana 55, Gujarat 49 and Rajasthan 46.
With 6,358 people testing positive for coronavirus infections in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,47,99,691.
The active cases have declined to 75,456, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The death toll has climbed to 4,80,290 with 293 fresh fatalities, the data stated.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 61 days now.
The active cases have declined to 75,456 comprising 0.22 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.40 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
