New Delhi, January 5: India has reported over 6.3 times increase in COVID-19 cases in the last eight days, said the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday. "India has reported a more than 6.3 times increase in cases in the last eight days. A sharp increase was seen in case positivity from 0.79 per cent on December 29, 2021 to 5.03 per cent on January 5," Joint Secretary of Health Ministry, Lav Agrawal said during a briefing of the ministry.

He further termed Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Gujarat as 'States of concern' as they have recorded a rise in COVID-19 cases. Also Read | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's 21 Staff Members Test COVID-19 Positive.

"Total 28 districts in the country are reporting more than 10 per cent weekly positivity," he further said. Also Read | Rajasthan Shocker: 32-Year-Old Woman Gangraped By Two Men In Dausa District; Accused Absconding.

India on Wednesday reported 58,097 fresh COVID cases and 534 deaths while on Tuesday, the country had recorded 37,379 new COVID cases and 124 deaths.

"25.2 lakh cases were recorded globally on January 4, the highest ever since the onset of the pandemic. Approximately 65 per cent of cases in the week ending January 4 reported from the USA, UK, France, Italy and Spain," Agrawal added. According to the ministry, 108 deaths have been reported due to the new coronavirus variant Omicron globally, so far.

"Omicron is the predominant circulating strain in the cities in the country, mass gatherings to be avoided to lower the speed of this spread," Dr Balram Bhargava, DG-ICMR said during the briefing.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing vaccination drive for children aged between 15 to 18 years, the ministry informed that a total of 7.40 crore children are between the specified age group and are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. As per CoWIN portal, 1,37,29,217 children have registered and 1,18,22,818 beneficiaries of this age group had taken their jabs till 4.40 pm.

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