Insight Bureau: The threat of a third Coronavirus wave in the country on the back of the new Omicron variant of the virus appears to be increasing as the  tally of the Omicron variant across states reached 416 in the last 24 hours.

As per the latest health bulletin issued by the government, the state of Maharashtra has the maximum cases of the new variant at 108 followed by the national capital which has traced 79 such cases so far. Other states which have traced a large number of Omicron variant cases include Gujarat (43), Telangana (38), Kerala (37) and Tamil Nadu (34). The tally of Coronavirus cases also seems to be inching up in the last few days with the positivity rate of the infection increasing rising across several regions including Delhi and Maharashtra.

The total number of Covid-19 cases reported in the country in the last 24 hours is 7,189 new infections. The number of Covid-19 patients who succumbed to the disease remained 387 in the last 24 hours.

After weeks of wait and watch, the center as well as the state governments have articulated in clear terms that the threat of a fourth Covid-19 wave in the country is real and the governments have also started taking preventive measures.

On Friday, the central government said that the world is witnessing the fourth wave of Coronavirus and requested the populace not to lower their guard and take all possible steps to curb the spread of the disease. The government also warned that the Omicron variant is even more transmissible among the household than the previous variants.