Noting that the world is witnessing a fourth surge in Covid-19 cases, the government on Friday cautioned people against lowering the guard, particulary during year-end festivities. It urged people to avoid crowding and unnecessary travel and stressed the need for  Covid-19-appropriate behaviour and expedited vaccination. Addressing a joint press conference on the pandemic, a senior official said the predominant strain in India continued to be Delta, including in recently identified clusters.

India has so far reported 358 cases of the Omicron variant, of which 183 were analysed and 121 of them were found to have foreign travel history. Of the 183 Omicron cases analysed so far, 91 per cent were fully vaccinated with three having booster shots, 70 per cent were asymptomatic, and 61 per cent were males, the government said.