Hike in covid cases

In Maharashtra, 198 new Omicron cases have been reported amid fears of a third Covid wave, with 5,368 new coronavirus infections reported in the last 24 hours, up 37% from the day before.

Experts have classified the new strain as “extremely infectious.”Mumbai, too, had a big increase, with 3,671 infections, up 46 percent from the day before. The city also registered the majority of the state’s new Omicron patients, with 190 instances.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met with the state’s Covid task committee on Thursday afternoon. One of the main topics discussed at the high-level meeting was a new variety that is thought to be pushing up the number of infections in the state, which has the country’s highest overall case count (66,65,386).

Updated by Urvi Ramchandani