India records 5,326 new COVID-19 cases and 453 deaths in the last 24 hours, data from the Union Ministry of Health confirmed on Tuesday. India’s virus caseload now stands at 3,47,52,164, with the death toll pushed to 4,78,007. 

Active cases have declined by 3,170 to 79,097 and comprise 0.23% of the total caseload. 

8,043 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries to 3,41,95,060. The national recovery rate stands at 98.40%. 

Also Read | Israel on track for four-shot COVID vaccine drive as omicron spreads

Data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) confirmed 66,61,26,659 samples have been tested for COVID-19 across the country. 10,14,079 tests were conducted on Monday. 

India’s cumulative vaccination tally has now reached  1,38,34,78,181 after the government administered 64,56,911 doses in the last 24 hours. India’s mass vaccination campaign was launched on January 16 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Meanwhile, at least 171 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been reported in India after Kerala (4) and Delhi (6) reported new cases on Monday. 

So far, 11 states have reported Omicron cases – Maharashtra (54), Delhi (28), Rajasthan (17) and Karnataka (19), Telangana (20), Gujarat (11), Kerala (15), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (4).

Also Read | Will take COVID vaccine ‘over my dead body’, says Sarah Palin

The Centre has warned it is likely that the spread of Omicron will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission. People have been adviced to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings and keep New Year celebrations at low intensity.

The heavily mutated version of the coronavirus was first reported in South Africa on November 24. India’s first two cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Karnataka on December 2.