India, on Thursday, 6 January, reported almost 91,000 COVID cases and 325 deaths, while the daily positive rate hit nearly 6.5 per cent.
The number of active COVID cases in the country is 2,85,401, and the number of Omicron cases is reportedly 2,630.
The big cities of the country are witnessing the most serious spike in cases, but the same surge isn't visible when it comes to COVID-induced hospitalisations.
Take a look at the data on the same from some of these cities.
Daily Cases in Cities
Mumbai and Delhi are leading the way in the daily COVID tally.
While the former reported just over 15,000 cases over a 24-hour period on Wednesday, 5 January, the capital city of India reported 10,665 cases.
The district of Pune, in Maharashtra, recorded 2,813 new cases on Wednesday.
Other cities are not too far behind. Kolkata recorded 6,170 COVID cases on Wednesday, while Bengaluru and Chennai reported 3,605 and 2,481 cases each.
Additionally, COVID cases surged in Ahmedabad (1,660 cases recorded on Wednesday) as well as in Hyderabad (979 cases).
![In Mumbai and Delhi, COVID-induced hospital admissions are at 8 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.](https://images.thequint.com/thequint%2F2022-01%2Fee603a68-5343-4c5f-88f9-4d8b6e7497f5%2FScreenshot_2022_01_06_at_16_01_41.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Comparison of daily cases reported on the night of 5 January.
Photo: Saptarshi Basak/The Quint
Omicron
COVID cases that are of the WHO-designated "variant of concern" – the Omicron variant – have been on the rise for a while.
As of Wednesday, Mumbai and Delhi's Omicron tally stands at 797 and 465, respectively.
Rajasthan and Kerala currently have 236 and 234 cases of the variant, respectively.
The state of Gujarat, on the other hand, now has 204 Omicron cases, while Telangana has 94 cases.
Active Cases
Mumbai is far ahead of the other cities when it comes to the total number of active COVID cases. The city recorded 61,923 such cases on Wednesday.
The number of active cases in Delhi stood at 23,307 on Wednesday, while in the state of West Bengal, the number was 33,042.
Chennai, meanwhile, has 5,593 active COVID cases, and Bengaluru 14,762 active cases.
Hospitalisations
The reports pertaining to hospitalisations, however, offer a glimmer of hope. While cases are surging in the above-mentioned cities, hospitalisation rates remain low.
Only 8 per cent of COVID-positive people are hospitalised in Mumbai, according to the city's health bulletin.
Similarly, in Delhi, only 7 per cent of its COVID beds were occupied, according to the government.
Hospitalisations are also low in Ahmedabad, with active COVID patients taking up only 2 per cent of hospital space.
Hyderabad had no hospital admissions two days ago, but it now has around 60 hospitalised patients.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)