While the country’s economy recovers from the destructive impact of the two waves of the COVID19 pandemic, the ongoing outbreak of the Omicron variant has found a mention in the Union Finance Ministry’s monthly economic report.

The report titled ‘Monthly Economic Review November 2021’ mentioned that Omicron, a new variant of COVID19 may pose a fresh risk to the ongoing global recovery.

“Lessons learnt during the second wave will help India to fight the new variant. Also, given the fast pace of vaccination in India and high exposure to delta variant as evidenced by high seropositivity, the severity of the disease is anticipated to be low,” the report stated. 

“However, preliminary evidence suggests that the Omicron variant is expected to be less severe and more so with increasing pace of vaccination in India,” it added. 

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The report further stated that India cannot lower its guard and needs to continue taking all precautions including wearing of mask, taking both doses of vaccines (if not yet vaccinated), maintaining social distancing and good ventilation to the maximum extent possible. 

As per the Finance Ministry, in so far as domestic impulses to growth are concerned, India’s recovery is aided by rapid vaccination covering with at least one dose more than 90 per cent of adult population. 

“This has helped daily COVID-19 cases in India decline further in November, with month-end active caseload reaching its lowest since June 2020, concentrated in only few states of the country. Around 80 per cent of the active cases are in Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Mizoram,” the ministry stated.

Also Read: The Indian Medical Association warns of ‘massive’ third wave amid Omicron threat

As per the latest data available on December 14, 820,478,211  people have received the first dose of the COVID19 vaccine while 524,283,050 people have been fully vaccinated in India. 

“Nonetheless, going forward, following and adopting COVID-19 appropriate behaviour along with ramped up testing will be critical to shield the country from another wave and subsequent restrictions which may pose downward risk to India’s revival story,” the report underlined.

First death due to Omicron variant in UK

Yesterday, on December 13, the British government confirmed that there has been a death due to the COVID19 infection by the Omicron variant. It’s the first death due to the Omicron variant of COVID19 across the world.

On a visit to a vaccination centre in London yesterday, Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Omicron accounted for about 40 per cent of the cases in the British capital, and hospital admissions were rising.

“No-one should be in any doubt: there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming,” he said in a televised address.

Also Read: Omicron variant: Govt releases FAQs after 2 COVID19 cases attributed to the new strain in Karnataka

Four new cases of Omicron in Delhi

Meanwhile, four more people in Delhi have tested positive for the Omicron variant of SARS-Cov-2 taking the total number of Omicron-infected patients in Delhi to six. One of the six has now recovered and has been discharged from hospital.

The other states that have reported the Omicron variant are Maharashtra (20), Gujarat (4), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Kerala (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and Union Territory of Chandigarh (1).

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Raising the issue in the ongoing Winter Session of the  Lok Sabha, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stated that India has already reported over 40 cases of Omicron variant and the government should begin preparations of every kind to deal with the challenge.