India's Omicron tally rises to 358

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

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

Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of 88 cases of the Omicron variant, followed by Delhi with 67, Telangana 38, Tamil Nadu 34, Karnataka 31 and Gujarat 30.

The ministry data updated at 8 am also showed that India recorded 6,650 new coronavirus infections, taking its tally of cases to 3,47,72,626, while the count of active cases has declined to 77,516.

The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 4,79,133, with 374 daily fatalities being recorded, it showed.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 57 days.

The tally of active cases has declined to 77,516, which comprises 0.22 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A decrease of 775 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, as per the data.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.57 per cent. It has been less than two per cent for 81 days now.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.59 per cent. This has been below one per cent for 40 days now, according to the health ministry.

The number



of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 3,42,15,977, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.38 per cent.

The cumulative number of doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 140.31 crore.

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.

The 374 new fatalities include 323 from Kerala and 17 from Maharashtra.

Of the 323 deaths in Kerala, 54 were recorded over the last few days and 269 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, the state government said in a statement on Friday.

A total of 4,79,133 Covid deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,41,392 from Maharashtra, 45,861 from Kerala, 38,301 from Karnataka, 36,707 from Tamil Nadu, 25,103 from Delhi, 22,915 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,702 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.