India on Wednesday recorded the first death linked to the Omicron in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, sources in the Union health ministry said. A man, 73, died on December 31, after testing negative twice on December 21 and 25. He died due to post-Covid pneumonia coupled with comorbidities—diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hypothyroidism—Udaipur Chief Medical Health Officer Dr Dinesh Kharadi said. He had tested positive on December 15, and his genome sequencing report came back on December 25.

The ministry on Wednesday said 2,135 Omicron cases have been detected across India, out of which 828 have recovered or migrated. India saw a single-day rise of 58,097 new cases and 534 deaths, shows the 8-am data. NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said, “The R naught value, that indicates the spread of the infection, is 2.69. This is higher than the 1.69 we saw when the second wave was at its peak. The acceleration of cases is steeper than ever.”