India daily Covid-19 cases surge to 27,553; Omicron tally increases to 1,525

India saw a single-day rise of 27,553 new coronavirus cases while the Omicron infection tally reached 1,525, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.  Of the 1,525 patients infected with the Omicron variant of the virus so far, 560 have either recuperated or migrated, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

The daily active case count rose to 18,020 while 284 deaths were recorded due to Covid-19 in a day. The fresh cases raised India's tally of Covid-19 cases to 34,889,132, while the active cases increased to 1,22,801, according to the latest data.

The death toll from the pandemic climbed to 4,81,770 while the cumulative recoveries have increased to 3,42,84,561.

The active cases comprised 0.35% of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.27%, the health ministry said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.55% while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.35%.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has exceeded 145 crore. Of which, 84.54 crore have been administered with the first dose while 60.84 have been fully vaccinated as per the government's data.

Tomorrow, January 3, India is going to start Covid vaccination drive for children aged between 15 and 18 years. Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India needs to accelerate pace of development in the new year and will not allow the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic to dampen the growth process. He stressed that the country will continue to fight the pandemic with "full caution and vigilance", and also take care of the national interest.