Nagpur: The central government on Friday said if a UK-like situation arises in India, the country could witness as many as 14 lakh cases of Omicron variant per day.
The Centre also highlighted the fact that the United Kingdom and France are currently witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases of both delta and omicron variants. The UK, for the third consecutive day, has witnessed a record high spike in Covid-19 cases. Over 93,000 cases were reported on Friday in the UK.
While addressing a press conference, Niti Ayog member-health Dr VK Paul said, “You are aware from the information in the public domain that the situation in parts of Africa but also in parts of Europe has gone worse.” He added that we need to take a lot of effort so that such a situation does not emerge here.
#WATCH | "…If we look at the scale of spread in the UK & if there is a similar outbreak in India, then given our population, there will be 14 lakh cases every day…," Dr. VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said at a Health Ministry press briefing on #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/EBvZNUuHlD
— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2021
Paul further said, “If there is a similar outbreak in India, given our population, there will be 14 lakh cases every day. Similarly, France — where there is 80% partial vaccination — is reporting 65,000 cases. If an outbreak of a similar scale takes place in India, it will mean 13 lakh cases every day.”
Other countries like South Africa, Norway, Canada are witnessing a steep increase in cases which is likely to be driven by the Omicron variant. At present, India has reported 101 cases of the Omicron variant. Most cases have been reported in Maharashtra, with almost all of them with travel history.
