India added more than 2.47 lakh new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, the highest single-day rise in the ongoing wave. With 84,825 recoveries and 380 deaths, active cases presently stand at 11,17,531. The daily positivity rate has risen to 13.11%.

The country’s Omicron tally has risen to 5,488, with Maharashtra (1,367) and Rajasthan (792) contributing the highest number of cases of the new variant. Meanwhile, Delhi has 549 cases, Kerala has 486, Karnataka 479, West Bengal 294, and UP 275.

Amid the recent Omicron-fuelled surge in Covid-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a virtual meeting with the chief ministers of all states on Thursday afternoon, to review the coronavirus situation across the country. This comes a day after the health ministry flagged a sharp surge in the country’s case positivity rate — from 1.1 per cent on December 30 to 11.05 per cent on January 12.

As the country grapples with the aggressive third wave, Bharat Biotech on Wednesday said an Emory University study has demonstrated that a booster dose of the pharma’s Covaxin administered six months after its two doses can neutralize the coronavirus’s Omicron and Delta variants.

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