Omicron found in 84% of COVID-19 samples in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 03: 84 per cent of all the COVID-19 samples tested in Delhi are of the Omicron variant.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain told news agency PTI that the genome sequencing reports of December 30-31 have found Omicron strain in 84 per cent of samples.

With the cases spilling, the curbs in Delhi have been increased. "84% of the COVID-19-19 cases reported in Delhi in the past two days were of the Omicron variant. Delhi's expected to report around 4,000 cases today with the positivity rate rising to 6.5 per cent," Jain told reporters.

Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Tuesday ordered the closure of schools, colleges, cinemas and gyms with immediate effect and put various restrictions on the functioning of shops and public transport as a yellow alert was sounded under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

The ''yellow'' alert restrictions stipulate that shops and establishments of non-essential goods and services and malls will open based on an odd-even formula from 10 AM to 8 PM.