World witnessing fourth COVID surge, cannot lower guard: Govt amid Omicron threat

The Union Health Ministry on Friday reviews the COVID-19 situation in the country, especially in the context of Omicron variant, the new, highly contagious virus strain which is spreading across states. Sounding an alarm on the spurt of positive cases everywhere, the ministry said that the world is witnessing the fourth state of COVID-19 and having an overall positivity rate of 6.1 per cent, so we cannot lower our guard.

Speaking at the routine press briefing in New Delhi, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said quoting World Health Organization (WHO) that Omicron has significant growth advantage over Delta, spreading fast through communities with doubling time of 1.5 to 3 days.

Bhushan also added that WHO on December 7 had said that Omicron has a significant growth advantage over Delta, which means that it has more transmissible. "Omicron cases double within 1.5-3 days, so we have to remain vigilant with COVID appropriate behaviour," he cautioned.

"While Europe, North America and Africa are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases week-on-week, Asia is still witnessing a decline in cases week-on-week," Bhushan noted.

On the status if Omicron patients in the country, the health ministry said that of 183 Omicron cases analysed so far, 9 per cent were fully vaccinated with three having booster shots, 70 per cent were asymptomatic and 61 per cent were males. The government also appealed to private health sector to be ready as it has to play an important role in managing pandemic in view of the new variant.

Briefing on the treatment protocols for Omicron variant of the virus, the government said that the protocols for COVID-19 and Delta will apply to Omicron. "While the evidence emerges, the immune escape potential for Delta is higher and its high transmission rates will lead to high surge cases," Bhushan said.

Adding to that, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) DG Dr Balram Bhargava said, "The predominant strain in India is Delta including the recently identified clusters. Therefore, we need to continue with the same strategy of COVID appropriate behaviour and ramping up of vaccination."

Providing statistics of state-wise COVID-19 caseload, the Centre stated that the top five states with the highest number of active cases, at the moment, are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka.

On the vaccination front, the ministry said that 89 per cent of the adult population has received the first dose and 61 per cent of the eligible population has received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines.

Meanwhile, India recorded 122 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, the highest so far, pushing its tally in the country to 358, 114 of which have recovered or migrated, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The 358 Omicron COVID-19 variant cases have been detected across 17 states and union territories so far, it showed.

Moreover, speaking on the bed and oxygen availability in the country, the health ministry said that there are 18,10,083 isolation beds, 4,94,314 oxygen-supported beds, 1,39,300 ICU beds, 24,057 pediatric ICU beds and 64,796 pediatric non-ICU beds available nationally.

"There was a 10 fold increase in oxygen demand from the first wave to second wave. Thus, 18,800 metric tonnes of medical oxygen per day has been arranged for; cause of concern is 11 states where vaccination coverage is less than the national average," it said.