The number of cases of Covid's heavily mutated Omicron variant has crossed 200 in India with Maharashtra and Delhi recording the highest tally, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Out of them, 77 patients have recovered or migrated, the ministry added.

Maharashtra and Delhi have reported the highest number of Omicron infections with 54 cases each. They are followed by Telangana (20 cases), Karnataka (19), Rajasthan (18), Kerala (15) and Gujarat (14).

However, the total number of fresh daily Covid-19 infections recorded in the last 24 hours has come down to 5,326 cases, the lowest count in 581 days.

There are now 79,097 active cases in the country, the lowest in 574 days. The total number of deaths recorded over the past 24 hours stood at 453.

Meanwhile, the Omicron strain is leading to an alarming spike in cases across the world. Most of the cases in India are also linked to those who have travelled abroad.

The government has introduced stringent measures at airports to test passengers arriving from abroad in order to contain the spread of this dangerous variant.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had informed Parliament on Monday that as many as 80% of the Omicron cases in India were asymptomatic. In the US, the new variant accounts for 73 per cent of all sequenced Covid cases, surging from around 3% last week, according to the latest official estimate.

The World Health Organization has said the Omicron variant is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from Covid-19 and have anti-bodies against the disease.

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