Over 70% Omicron cases are asymptomatic, says Centre amid rising Covid concerns | 10 points

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The Health Ministry on Friday, during a press conference on the rising cases of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, said that out of 183 Omicron cases analyzed so far, 91% were fully vaccinated with three having booster shots, 70% were asymptomatic and 61% were males. 

Here are the top points from the briefing:

1. The world is witnessing the fourth surge & and the overall positivity is 6.1%. Therefore, we have to be on guard and we can't afford to slacken, said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, adding, "While Europe, North America & Africa are seeing an increase in COVID19 cases week-on-week, Asia is still witnessing a decline in cases week-on-week."
2. The top five states with the highest number of active cases, at the moment, are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka, he added, 358 Omicron cases in 17 States/UTs of India. The number of persons recovered is 114.
3. "Ministry of Health and Family Welfare preemptively advised States on 21st December -to impose restrictions like night curfew, regulating large gatherings. increase bed capacity and other logistics and strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behavior," said the Union Health Secretary.
4. 89% of the adult population has received the first dose and 61% of the eligible population has received the second dose of COVID19 vaccines, said the official.
5. Today, we have 18,10,083 isolation beds, 4,94,314 O2 supported beds, 1,39,300 ICU beds, 24,057 pediatric ICU beds and 64,796 pediatric non-ICU beds available nationally, he further added. 
6. The predominant strain in India is Delta including the recently identified clusters. Therefore, we need to continue with the same strategy of COVID appropriate behaviour and ramping up of vaccination, said Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG-ICMR.
7. WHO on Dec 7 said that Omicron has a significant growth advantage over Delta which means, it has greater transmissibility. Omicron cases double within 1.5-3 days, so we have to remain vigilant with covid appropriate behaviour, said Bhushan.
8. "The treatment protocols for COVID-19 & Delta will apply to Omicron. While the evidence emerges, the immune escape potential for Delta is higher & its high transmission rates will lead to high surge cases."
9. There was a 10 fold increase in oxygen demand from 1st wave to 2nd wave. Thus, 18,800 metric tonnes of medical oxygen per day has been arranged for; cause of concern is 11 states where vaccination coverage is less than the national avg, he added. 
10. On booster shots, Dr. Bhargava said, "Deliberations are underway, we are reviewing scientific data to formulate a policy." ICMR and DBT are working together to culture the virus. "We are testing the efficacy of the vaccines against the Omicron variant of COVID19," he added. 

(with PTI and ANI inputs)

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