Amid a sharp increase in cases of COVID's Omicron variant, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla will be holding a review meeting on the infection situation in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) on Thursday evening, sources informed.
The meeting will be focused on the increasing cases in Delhi and NCR region and the steps to curb the menace.
The meeting will be held in virtual mode and Chief Secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana or their representatives will participate in the meeting along with senior police and health officials of these states.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, NITI Aayog member VK Paul and other concerned senior officials of Union Health and Union Home Ministry will also participate in the meeting.
The meeting was called as India on Thursday reported a single-day spike of 90,928 fresh Covid-19 cases and 325 deaths. The daily positivity rate stood at 6.43 per cent. The active caseload in the country reached 2,85,401, while 19,206 recoveries were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Omicron tally in the country reached 2,630, with Maharashtra (797) topping the count, followed by Delhi (465), Rajasthan (236) and Kerala (234).
On Wednesday, the Centre confirmed the first Omicron-related death in the country; a 74-year-old man with comorbidities, who succumbed to the virus last week in Rajasthan's Udaipur.
India is witnessing an exponential rise in the number of Covid cases, which is believed to be driven by the Omicron variant, the Centre had said on Wednesday while highlighting that the country's R naught value that indicates the spread of the infection is 2.69, higher than the 1.69 recorded during the peak of the pandemic's second wave.
Cities across the country are recording a significant rise in their cases. Mumbai recorded over 15,000 cases-- the highest single-day surge witnessed since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Covid cases doubled in Delhi, with 10,665 new cases on Wednesday. Pune, too, recorded a six-fold jump in the last one week, from 477 on December 30 to 2,813 on Wednesday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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