In view of the rising cases of Covid-19 and its Omicron variant, several states and UTs -- Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh -- have imposed night curfew and revised covid protocol. India’s Omicron tally breached the 550-mark and stood at 578. Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh reported their first Omicron cases — taking the number of affected states and UTs to 17. Madhya Pradesh reported nine cases, all of them foreign travelers. Himachal reported its first case just a day before PM Modi’s scheduled public meeting in Mandi. Delhi topped the list with 142 cases, followed by Maharashtra which has 141 cases so far. According to a Union Health Ministry office memorandum, Multi-disciplinary central teams have been deployed in 10 states which are reporting either an increasing number of Omicron and COVID-19 cases or a slow vaccination pace. Meanwhile, in his Mann ki Baat address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday also said self-awareness and self-discipline are the country's strengths in fighting against the novel variant of the COVID.
