The overall risk associated with the Omicron variant remains “very high” which could cause widespread disruption to health systems and other critical services, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. In India, the Omicron infection tally climbed to 781 from 578 cases on December 27, while it was 23 cases on December 7. The national Capital has the highest cases of the variant at 238, followed by Maharashtra at 167 cases so far.
The WHO warning comes a day after Paul Kattuman, professor at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge which has developed a Covid-19 India tracker, wrote that “India may see a spurt in the Covid-19 growth rate within days and head into an intense but short-lived virus wave as the highly-infectious Omicron variant moves through the crowded nation of almost 1.4 billion.”
“It is likely that India will see a period of explosive growth in daily cases and that the intense growth phase will be relatively short,” he said.
In fact, in the last 24 hours, India registered 9,195 fresh Covid-19 cases, a significant spike from the previous day’s figure of 6,358, and 302 deaths, as per the data available from the Union Health Ministry.
In its weekly epidemiological update, the WHO said that “the overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high”.
“Consistent evidence shows that the Omicron variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant with a doubling time of two to three days,” read the update.
The Omicron variant, first identified in late November in southern Africa, has sent infections soaring to levels not seen since last winter, bringing the total number of US coronavirus cases to more than 52.9 million, with more than 819,000 deaths.
States in India have already started imposing restrictions to check the spread of Covid-19 in the wake of New Year celebrations amid a spike in infections with Delhi already issuing “yellow alerts” while Maharashtra has declared a ban on night movement and limits on gathering.
Kerala Government has imposed a night curfew from December 30 to January 2 and restricted New Year celebrations. Only essential services will be allowed during the curfew. The State has barred celebrations after 10 pm on December 31.
Crowds will be controlled at tourist destinations and beaches.
Night curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. was reimposed in Uttar Pradesh from December 25 while gatherings of over 200 people were banned.
While Karnataka announced a 10-day night curfew on Monday as New Year parties and public gatherings were banned, ordered patrolling and surveillance in districts adjoining Maharashtra and Kerala to prevent the spread of the virus, Assam has reintroduced night curfew from 11.30 p.m. to 6 a.m., which will not be applicable on New Year’s Eve. The State Government has urged people to maintain Covid-appropriate behaviour and warned of legal action against those who do not comply.
The Gujarat Government has imposed a night curfew in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Gandhinagar, and Junagadh to check the pandemic spread. Ditto with Haryana where public gatherings of over 200 people and events have been barred till further notice.
Odisha has imposed restrictions till January 2. Christmas celebrations were limited to churches, where a maximum of 50 people were allowed as per Covid-19 protocols. Night celebrations on New Year have also been banned across the State. All events except weddings have been barred in the State.