India records 6,650 new COVID-19 cases, omicron tally at 358

India recorded 6,650 new COVID-19 cases and 374 deaths in the last 24 hours, data from the Union Minstry of Health confirmed on Friday. India’s total virus caseload now stands at 3,47,72,626, with the death toll pushed to 4,79,133.

India’s omicron tally increased by 122 in the last 24 hours, with a total of 358 cases having been detected across the country so far, the ministry confirmed. 114 out of the cases have either recovered or migrated. 

The new variant has been detected in 17 states so far, with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of cases, 88. Omicron cases have also been reported in Delhi (67), Telangana (38), Tamil Nadu (34), Karnataka (31), Gujarat (30), Kerala (27), Rajasthan (22), Haryana (4), Odisha (4), Jammu and Kashmir (3), West Bengal (3), Andhra Pradesh (2), Uttar Pradesh (2), Chandigarh (1), Ladakh (1) and Uttarakhand (1). 

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Meanwhile, active cases have declined by 775 to 77,516. They comprise 0.22% of the total caseload, the lowest since March 2020. 

7,051 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,42,15,977. The national recovery rate stands at 98.40%, the highest since March 2020. 

Data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) confirmed a total of 66,98,09,816 samples have been tested for COVID-19 across the country so far. 11,65,887 of these samples were tested in the last 24 hours. 

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The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.57% and has stayed below 1% for the last 81 days. The weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 0.59% and has stayed below 1% for the last 40 days. 

India’s cumulative vaccination count has reached 1,40,31,63,063, after 57,44,652 doses were administered in the last 24 hours, the health ministry confirmed. India’s mass vaccination drive began on January 16. 

India’s COVID-19 infection tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.

The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore cases on May 4 and three crore on June 23.