With the number of Omicron cases rapidly rising in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued a call to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings, and observe low-intensity festivities. “Local restrictive measures” are to be implemented in 24 districts from seven states, including nine in Kerala and eight in Manipur, with a weekly test positivity rate above 5 per cent. The Centre also warned it is likely that the spread of the new variant will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission. This comes as India’s Omicron cases climbed to 131 after 18 new infections were reported from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, according to local officials on Saturday.

The Delhi government has designated four new private hospitals as dedicated centres for treatment of the Omicron variant. Earlier, only Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital was designated for Omicron treatment. “In order to augment the capacity of institutional isolation facility in the private sector for COVID positive international passengers who have travelled from or transited through the countries classified as ‘at-risk’ as per the Centre’s guidelines, the authorities of Batra Hospital and Research Centre, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, Fortis Super Specialty Hospital, Vasant Kunj and Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital are hereby directed to establish separate units for such passengers on payment basis with immediate effect and to follow the SOPs issued by health ministry,” reads the order issued by Delhi Health department. With 10 fresh cases of Omicron detected on Friday in Delhi, the city’s tally has gone up to 20. India recorded 7,145 new cases of Coronavirus and 289 deaths in the 24 hours ending 8 am on Saturday. Active cases stand at 84,565, lowest in over 18 months.