A healthcare worker takes a nasal sample from a passenger for the COVID-19 test in view of rising Omicron cases, at ISBT in New Delhi on Tuesday, December 28, 2021.  |  Photo Credit: IANS
New Delhi: As India’s Omicron tally continues to rise and the country preps for a possible third wave of COVID-19 infections in February next year, several states have begun reporting an uptick in cases. On Tuesday, even as new restrictions went into effect, the national capital reported a sharp rise in cases – going from 331 cases on Monday to 496 today. Mumbai meanwhile showed a nearly 70% rise in cases.
One death was reported from each city. Tuesday’s numbers incidentally are the highest to be reported from the two cities in several months. Delhi’s daily caseload had reached last reached similar levels at the beginning of June. The positivity rate has also surged to 0.89% – the highest in the past seven months. Surpassing numbers from the last six months, the city presently has 1,612 active cases.
Earlier today, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had heralded the implementation of the ‘yellow’ alert of the Graded Response Action Plan. With this, a night curfew came into effect between 10 pm and 5 am, and cinema halls, spas, gyms, multiplexes, banquet halls, auditoriums and sports complexes were closed with immediate effect. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority has also called for the closure of all the schools with immediate effect till further orders.
From 108 fresh cases on December 1, Mumbai today reported 1,377 new infections. As per the 6 pm bulletin from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), there are now 5803 active patients in the city. “Over 1000 Positive Cases Today! The recent rise of new cases begets extra caution from our end. We cannot let the city that never sleeps, slow down again. Mask and precautions up, Mumbai, follow guidelines,” urged a tweet by the BMC.
Ahead of Christmas the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra governemtn had imposed a night curfew and other restrictions. While restaurants, gyms, spas, cinemas halls will now operate at 50% capacity, only 100 people will beallowed in indoor weddings, and not more than 250 in outdoor weddings.
Delhi and Maharashtra incidentally lead the tally when it comes to the far-more-transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19. According to government data, the total number of cases belonging to the new heavily mutated strain has risen to 165 in the national capital, while Maharashtra has a total of 167 Omicron cases.