Karnataka confirmed five cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus on Sunday, said state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar.
Among the new cases, one is a male patient while the four are women. The cases have been reported from Dharwad, Bhadravathi, Udupi and Mangaluru. With the confirmation of new infections, Karnataka so far reported 19 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.
Meanwhile, the Omicron subtype of coronavirus has continued to rise in India, with the overall caseload reaching 163. In the last 18 days, more than 150 cases of Omicron have been reported in 11 states and union territories. Maharashtra had the most Omicron instances, with 54, followed by Delhi (24), Rajasthan (17), and Karnataka (19), Telangana (20), Gujarat (11), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1), and West Bengal (4), according to central government statistics.
In the past 24 hours, India has registered 6,563 new Covid-19 cases and 132 deaths. According to the Health Ministry’s report, the active cases in the country were 82,267, with 8,077 recoveries. On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as ‘Omicron’. The WHO has classified Omicron as a ‘variant of concern’.
