India's Omicron tally reaches 2,135 with 243 new cases; Maharashtra remains worst hit

The count of Omicron cases in India on Wednesday rose to 2,135 after 243 new cases of highly transmissible Covid variant Omicron were reported in the past 24 hours. Currently, 828 of those affected by the new strain have recovered. This strain has been reported in 653 people in Maharashtra. The ministry of health reported on Wednesday that 259 patients had been discharged. In the last 24 hours, alone 85 new Omicron cases have been reported in the state.

India's two hardest-hit states remain Maharashtra and Delhi.

Among the states and union territories (UTs) that have reported the Omicron infection so far. 
At present, Delhi has detected 464 cases of the Omicron variant in the last 24 hours. Delhi has the second highest number of cases of Omicron infection. There have been 57 discharges from the hospital so far. 185 Omicron cases have been reported in Kerala. On Wednesday, the Union health ministry announced that Omicron had spread to 24 states and UTs.

Among other states, Rajasthan has recorded 174 Omicron infections, with 88 discharged so far. Omicron has so far been reported in 154 cases in Gujarat and 121 cases in Tamil Nadu.

In the last 24 hours, Telangana has reported 17 more Omicron cases, bringing the total to 84. Karnataka has so far reported 77 cases of Omicron infection, while Haryana has reported 71 and Odisha has reported 37 cases.

In the past 24 hours, Uttar Pradesh reported 23 new cases of Omicron. As of now, there are 24 and 20 cases of this variant in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, respectively.

Omicron cases continue to register in the single digits in Madhya Pradesh (9 cases) and Uttarakhand (8 cases). A total of five cases of Omicron have been reported in Goa and Meghalaya. The number of cases in both the states of Jammu Kashmir and Chandigarh continues to increase. So far, there have been two cases each in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Punjab. Currently, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Manipur have one case each of this variant.

(With inputs from IANS)