This report is based on exclusive information researched by NDTV's Meher Pandey and Saurabh Gupta, and warns that a major Omicron health crisis could hit India very soon and that Omicron is now the dominant variant in India.
India is following the rest of the world in galloping Omicron cases, which in some countries, account for 90 per cent of new cases.
Two major labs, one each in Delhi and in Mumbai, testing for Omicron, show that of all Covid cases, Omicron is now as high as nearly 60 per cent. Another Omicron lab in Mumbai is also likely to show in its next report that Omicron is 60 per cent, up from 37 per cent just a week ago.
Particularly alarming is the fact that Omicron cases are rising much faster than Delta - from about 2 per cent share of total Covid cases two to three weeks ago, then shooting up to 30 per cent a few days ago- and is now close to 60 per cent of all Covid cases.
Six of 100 Delta cases need hospitalisation, and let's say only half that, three out of 100 Omicron cases need hospitalisation, take a look at the huge consequences: the second wave peaked at four lakh Delta cases, resulting in about 24,000 hospital admissions, and in the worst scenario, a third wave peak of 20 lakh Omicron cases would result in 60,000 Omicron hospitalisations per day.