Omicron is spreading at a very fast pace in the world and the cases are rising rapidly in India. It has already spread to 11 states and Union Territories. The Center has announced that 111 cases of this new variant have been registered in the country with the characteristic of spreading 6 times faster than the Delta type.
Now, the Centre has warned that India could witness a severe spike in the cases as the scale of infections in the UK and France could translate to lakhs of cases a day in the country.
“If we look at the scale of spread in the UK and if there is a similar outbreak in India, then given our population, there will be 14 lakh cases every day. France is reporting 65,000 cases. If an outbreak of a similar scale takes place in India, then given our population it will mean 13 lakh cases every day,” VK Paul, the government’s Covid task force chief, said.
“You are aware from the information in the public domain that situation in parts of Africa but also in parts of Europe has gone worse. We have to make an effort so that such a situation do not emerge here. Conversely, we have to be prepared to effectively face even such a situation,” he added.
VK Paul also added the delta uptake is not declining despite 80 percent completion of vaccination in Europe.