Delhi reports 180 new Omicron cases in 24 hours, Sarojini Nagar Market to follow odd-even operations for weekend

With the onset of the Omicron variant, the national capital is witnessing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases. Delhi registered 180 fresh cases on Friday taking the overall active caseload to 782, Health Ministry data revealed. This is the highest in six-months. Delhi also has 67 Omicron cases.

After recording zero deaths for a long time, Delhi has seen five deaths in December so far. The sudden jump in cases in Delhi is because of the Omicron variant. There is a constant daily rise in COVID-19 cases in Delhi – Friday saw 180 cases, 125 in 24 hours on Thursday, 91 on Tuesday and 69 on Saturday.

The total number of cases detected in Delhi so far has risen to 14,42,813. Over 14.16 lakh patients have recovered from the infection. A total of 62,697 tests, with 57,583 RT-PCR and 5,114 rapid antigen ones, were conducted a day ago, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, the Kejriwal government has also ordered shops and street vendors in Sarojini Nagar Market of South Delhi to follow odd-even operations for the weekend of December 25 and December 26 amid the rising COVID-19 cases.

The order comes after Delhi High Court on Friday took note of overcrowding in Sarojini Nagar market. “The state of affairs, be it COVID or non-COVID, is ‘frightening’ as people are ‘flowing like a river’ which could lead to stampede and death of hundreds,” the Delhi High Court observed.

Apart from Maharashtra and Delhi, Telangana reported 38 cases, Tamil Nadu (34), Karnataka (31), Gujarat (30), Kerala (27) and Rajasthan (22) cases of the new strain. India’s Omicron caseload crossed 100 exactly one week ago and it crossed 200 on Tuesday. By Saturday the tally has crossed the 350-mark.