India Could Witness 14 Lakh COVID Cases Per Day With United Kingdom-Like Omicron Surge, Warns NITI Aayog Member

India could witness around 14 lakh cases in a day if the country faces United Kingdom-like outbreak of new Covid-19 variant, according to a top NITI Aayog official.

UK on Friday reported 93,045 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily tally since the pandemic began, as the Omicron variant fuels a concerning surge in infections across the country.

With the onset of winters and people travelling and partying for Christmas and New Year, the officials said that if daily cases in countries like UK and France are extrapolated in the context of India's population the daily cases in the country could rise to 13-14 lakh per day.

“We have to make an effort so that such a situation do not emerge here. Conversely, we have to be prepared to effectively face even such a situation,” he said.

UK had reported over 80,000 cases on Thursday despite high vaccination rate and exposure to delta variant of Coronavirus.

“If there is a similar outbreak in India, given our population, there will be 14 lakh cases every day. Similarly, France - where there is 80 per cent partial vaccination - is reporting 65,000 cases. If an outbreak of a similar scale takes place in India, it will mean 13 lakh cases every day," Paul was quoted as saying.