New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS): With 428 fresh Omicron infections detected in the last 24 hours, the national tally of this highly transmissible variant has climbed to 4,461. Of the total, 1,711 people have recovered from the new strain nationwide so far, said the Union health ministry on Tuesday morning.

With Bihar reporting 27 cases of Omicron for the first time, the Omicron infection has spread into 28 states and UTs, as per the health ministry.

However, Maharashtra continues to be the worst worst hit at 1,247 Omicron infections. Of them, 467 patients have been discharged as per the health ministry data. Rajasthan with 645 Omicron cases continues to be the second most affected state in the country. The state is followed by Delhi with 546 cases of this variant.

Delhi is followed by Karnataka with 479 cases and Kerala with 350 cases so far.

Among other states, Uttar Pradesh has reported a spike of 162 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally to 275, while Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue with 236 and 185 cases so far. Telangana and Haryana also continue with 123 Omicron cases each.

Meanwhile, the number of Omicron cases continues at 74 and 28 in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh respectively. Bihar, Punjab and West Bengal have 27 cases each so far. Goa has recorded 2 fresh cases, pushing tally to 21, while Madhya Pradesh continues with 10 cases of Omicron.

However, the Omicron case count continues in single digit for Assam at 9 and Uttarakhand at 8. Meghalaya has so far 5 Omicron cases and Jammu and Kashmir has 4 cases. Chandigarh and Andman Nicobar Islands continue with 3 cases each and Puducherry with 2 cases so far.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, Manipur and Chhattisgarh continue with one case of this variant each so far.