'Ramp up hospital preparedness'

New Delhi: Amid a sharp jump in Covid-19 cases in India, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand, advising the States to enhance Covid-19 testing, strengthen hospital-level preparedness and increase pace and coverage of vaccination.

The warning comes as India reported 13,154 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. Also, India's Omicron tally surged to 961 on Thursday. As of now, Delhi has the maximum number of 263 Omicron cases followed by Maharashtra at 252, Gujarat 97, Rajasthan 69, Kerala 65 and Telangana 62. The weekly positivity rate in the country is 0.76 per cent which remains lesser than 1 per cent for the last 46 days. The daily positivity rate is 1.10 per cent which remains lesser than 2 per cent for the last 87 days. Flagging the "sudden rise" in Covid cases across 14 cities, the Centre urged the States to take immediate measures.

Omicron accounts for 46 per cent of the 115 Covid-19 samples analysed in the national capital and the new, fast-spreading variant of concern is gradually spreading in the community, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday. He said Delhi hospitals have 200 Covid patients of which 102 belong to the city.

Several States have imposed stringent curbs to keep New Year festivities in check as cases surge, with night curfews, Section 144 and mandatory vaccination.

Earlier, raising caution, Dr Balram Bhargava, ICMR DG laid down three pointers. "This is the time to avoid non-essential travel, mass gatherings and it is very important to observe low-intensity festivities (Christmas, New Year)," he said.