<p id="thickbox_headline">Cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have risen to 21 in India over the weekend and people must step up for vaccination, officials said on Monday.</p>.<p>Rajasthan reported the most number of Omicron cases with nine, followed by eight in Maharashtra, two in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat and the capital New Delhi.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/survelliance-stepped-up-at-mp-borders-after-omicron-cases-found-in-adjoining-states-1058169.html" target="_blank">Survelliance stepped up at MP borders after Omicron cases found in adjoining states </a></strong></p>.<p>"The people of Delhi must get fully vaccinated, wear a mask and maintain social distancing," health minister Satyendar Jain said on Twitter.</p>.<p>He said the city's first Omicron patient was being treated at a state-run hospital. Some 94% of its adults had received at lease one dose, he added.</p>.<p>The country has fully vaccinated 51% of its 94.4 crore adults and given at least one dose to 85%. Crores of people, however, are overdue for their second dose despite ample vaccine supplies, government data shows.</p>.<p>India reported its first two Omicron cases in Karnataka on Thursday, in one person with no recent travel history.</p>.<p>Most other cases have been in people who have recently come from abroad, but doctors said the mutated virus was already spreading in the local population as well.</p>.<p>"Omicron is here, community spread is underway," surgeon Arvinder Singh Soin, who has been treating Covid-19 patients, said on Twitter. "Mask up. Get FULLY vaccinated."</p>.<p>India reported 8,895 new Covid-19 cases for the past 24 hours, taking the total to 3.463 crores. Deaths rose by 211 to 473,537.</p>.<p>Since a record surge in infections and deaths in April and May due to the Delta variant, new cases have hovered around 10,000 in the past few weeks.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH videos:</strong></p>
<p id="thickbox_headline">Cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have risen to 21 in India over the weekend and people must step up for vaccination, officials said on Monday.</p>.<p>Rajasthan reported the most number of Omicron cases with nine, followed by eight in Maharashtra, two in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat and the capital New Delhi.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/survelliance-stepped-up-at-mp-borders-after-omicron-cases-found-in-adjoining-states-1058169.html" target="_blank">Survelliance stepped up at MP borders after Omicron cases found in adjoining states </a></strong></p>.<p>"The people of Delhi must get fully vaccinated, wear a mask and maintain social distancing," health minister Satyendar Jain said on Twitter.</p>.<p>He said the city's first Omicron patient was being treated at a state-run hospital. Some 94% of its adults had received at lease one dose, he added.</p>.<p>The country has fully vaccinated 51% of its 94.4 crore adults and given at least one dose to 85%. Crores of people, however, are overdue for their second dose despite ample vaccine supplies, government data shows.</p>.<p>India reported its first two Omicron cases in Karnataka on Thursday, in one person with no recent travel history.</p>.<p>Most other cases have been in people who have recently come from abroad, but doctors said the mutated virus was already spreading in the local population as well.</p>.<p>"Omicron is here, community spread is underway," surgeon Arvinder Singh Soin, who has been treating Covid-19 patients, said on Twitter. "Mask up. Get FULLY vaccinated."</p>.<p>India reported 8,895 new Covid-19 cases for the past 24 hours, taking the total to 3.463 crores. Deaths rose by 211 to 473,537.</p>.<p>Since a record surge in infections and deaths in April and May due to the Delta variant, new cases have hovered around 10,000 in the past few weeks.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH videos:</strong></p>