Gujarat on Saturday added 68 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s active tally to 575. Of these active cases, 410 Covid-positive patients and three deaths were added in the past seven days, state health department’s data revealed.
No death was recorded on Saturday, while six people are on ventilator support. So far, 10,901 people have died of Covid in the state, as per the health department data which the experts claim is a massive undercounting.
Omicron Tally Rises to Seven
Gujarat has seven cases of Covid infection caused by the Omicron variant. The most recent addition was of a Vadodara-based senior citizen couple who returned from Zambia a few days back and had tested positive for the Omicron variant on Friday. India’s Omicron tally is currently at 115.
The National Covid-19 Supermodel Committee has predicted the third wave in India early next year. The daily Covid-19 caseload in India that is currently around 7,500 infections is expected to increase once the Omicron starts displacing Delta as the dominant variant, the members of the National Covid-19 Supermodel Committee stated.
Vidyasagar, who is also the head of the National Covid-19 Supermodel Committee, told ANI that India will have Omicron’s third wave but it will be milder than the second wave.
“Third wave is likely to arrive early next year in India. It should be milder than the second wave due to a large-scale immunity present in the country now. There will definitely be a third wave. Right now, we are at around 7,500 cases per day which is sure to go up once Omicron starts displacing Delta as the dominant variant,” he was quoted by ANI.
No Discussion On Resuming Online Classes
As many as 18 school children from major cities of Gujarat have tested Covid positive in the last 11 days. Of these, nine children are from Surat, four from Ahmedabad, three from Rajkot and two from Vadodara. Despite the apparent surge in Covid cases among kids in Gujarat, along with the country, the state education department is yet to decide whether or not to continue with online classes.
Hitendrasinh Padheriya, DEO, Ahmedabad city told VoI that so far no official communication has been made regarding the closure of the schools and resumption of online classes. “We will wait for Monday,” he said.
