THE total count of the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant reached 781 in India on Wednesday (29), the health ministry said. Of the 781 cases, 241 people have been either discharged, recovered or migrated.
Delhi has the highest Omicron count with 238 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 167 cases. The cases in Gujarat and Kerala are also increasing.
According to reports, the Omicron variant has been detected in 21 states and UT across the country.
The ministry said that India reported 9,195 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday. With this, the country's tally of coronavirus cases has increased to 34,808,886, while the active caseload has jumped to 77,002. 302 fresh fatalities also pushed India's death toll to 4,80,592.
To address the issue, the government has been continuously speeding up vaccination drive across the country.
Over 1.43 billion vaccine doses have been administered in India, making a significant milestone in the fight against Covid-19, the ministry added.
The recovery rate is currently at 98.40 per cent, highest since March 2020.
At least 7,347 people have recovered in the last 24 hours. The total number of people who have recovered is 34,251,292.
Active cases account for less than 1 per cent of total cases, currently at 0.22 per cent, lowest since March 2020.
Omicron is behind rapid virus spikes in several countries, including those where it has already overtaken the previously dominant Delta variant, the WHO said.
It said early data from Britain, South Africa and Denmark -- which currently has the world's highest rate of infection per person -- suggested there was a reduced risk of hospitalisation for Omicron compared to Delta.
A protestor is detained by the police during a demonstration against the proposed site of the new Chinese Embassy, outside Royal Mint Court, in London. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso. 
