Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, on Friday, said as the third wave of Covid-19 has started showing its impact and there has been a rapid spike in the number of cases, the state is braced up with adequate arrangements to contain the virus spread.

“If we talk about yesterday, about 2500 new cases have been reported and the number of active cases is 8000 in the state, out of which 114 cases are of the Omicron variant. Out of 114 patients, 83 have been cured and 31 are active cases,” Khattar said while addressing a Press conference today.

He said that the spreading rate of the Omicron variant is 1.5 times higher and according to experts, the Omicron-led third Covid wave may peak by 25 January.

The CM said till date, more than 3.61 crore people in the state have been vaccinated, out of which more than 2.10 crore people have received the first dose and more than 1.50 crore people have received the second dose.

“The everyday testing capacity in the state has also been increased and more than 40,000 tests are being conducted on a daily basis. Along with increasing the vaccination, the testing of people would also be increased,” he informed.

Khattar said as per the guidelines issued by the Central government regarding Covid-19, the state government has also implemented the same along with necessary restrictions on gathering, marriages, and other public functions, everyone should wear masks, maintain proper distance and avoid going to crowded places, urged the CM.

Meanwhile, lashing out at Congress for making unnecessary political statements about the 34 percent unemployment rate in the state based on the “unrealistic report” of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the CM said the actual unemployment rate in Haryana is only 6.1 percent.

Terming the report as baseless and a bundle of lies, the CM clarified the Parivar Pehchan Patra programme has been implemented in Haryana for the past three years, under which around 98 percent of the families have been registered.

“Till date, a total of 65,78,311 families have been registered and the registered population figure is 2,57,99,000. Of which 1.73 crore people are in the age group of 18 years to 58 years, out of which 10,59,530 persons have declared themselves unemployed”, he added.