Infections have begun to rise in remote areas after rapid surge in cities in recent weeks India reported 264,202 new Covid – 19cases on Friday, the highest daily tally in nearly seven months, as the third wave of the pandemic spreads from large cities to smaller towns and rural areas.
The rapid increase in cases — India reported at total of 27,553 new cases two weeks earlier — is in line with a worldwide surge attributed to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus.
India has confirmed only 5,733 infections caused by Omicron since the first case was detected in early December, but experts say it is a massive undercount.
“The spread cannot be prevented as it is a highly infectious variant. It has happened all over the world,” Dr Sanjay K Rai, an epidemiologist practising in Delhi, told The National.
