India confirms first Omicron-related death as Covid-19 cases jump

As cases continued to rise across the country, several state governments were forced to issue fresh guidelines on restrictions

India on Wednesday confirmed its first death linked to the Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 after a deceased Udaipur resident’s sample showed presence of the virus. Meanwhile, cases continued to climb sharply across major cities – Mumbai’s fresh Covid cases breached the 15,000 mark, up almost 40 percent from Tuesday, while Delhi’s cases nearly doubled to 10,665.

The country had 214,004 active Covid19 cases as of Wednesday, and reported 58,097 fresh cases on January 5. The Health Ministry said that 43 districts in India are reporting a weekly positivity between 5 per cent to 10 per cent now.

The 73-year old