As India continues its fight against Covid, the Union Health ministry, in its latest briefing on Friday, said that the total tally of Omicron cases in the country has now reached 101. Maharashtra, which continues to be the worst-affected state has reported 32 cases. Meanwhile, 22 cases have been reported in Delhi, 17 in Rajasthan, 8 each in Karnataka and Telangana, 5 each in Gujarat and Kerala, one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively.
Amid the growing concern over the Omicron variant, Dr Balram Bhargava, DG ICMR, urged people to avoid non-essential travel, mass gatherings, stating that it is important to observe low-intensity festivities.
Earlier in the day, New Delhi reported ten new cases of Omicron, taking the overall tally of Omicron cases in the national capital to 20. ‘Out of these 20, 10 have been discharged,’ said Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendra Jain. Three people, who arrived in Goa from the UK, on Friday tested positive for Covid-19 and their samples were sent for genome sequencing to check if they are infected with the Omicron variant.
The maximum number of Omicron cases so far have been reported from Maharashtra, with a total of 32 cases. In Maharastra, Mumbai has reported a total of 13 infections followed by 10 in Pimpri Chinchwad, 2 in Pune Municipal Corporation, Osmanabad each and one in Kalyan Dombivali, Nagpur, Latur, Vasai Virar and Buldhana each. Out of these, 25 cases have been discharged after a negative RT PCR test.
Amid global concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday appealed PM Modi to take stock of the situation across the country and consider administering booster doses to the eligible population in the country.
Globally, about 70 countries have reported cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 infection. Sending warning signs to the un-vaccinated amid Omicron rampage, US President Joe Biden on Thursday said, “Due to the steps we’ve taken, Omicron has not yet spread as fast as it would’ve otherwise done and as is happening in Europe. But it’s here now, and it’s spreading, and it’s going to increase. For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm.”
Omicron, a new variant of COVID-19, was first reported from South Africa on November 25. The WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as ‘Omicron’ and classified it as a ‘variant of concern’.
