Three states — Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal — reported their first cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus on Wednesday, taking India’s tally to 73.
In West Bengal, a seven-year-old boy, resident of Murshidabad district who recently returned from Abu Dhabi via Hyderabad, tested positive for Omicron. The boy had recently returned to Bengal from Abu Dhabi via Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, in Telangana, a 24-year-old woman from Kenya and a 23-year-old man from Somalia, who landed in Hyderabad on December 12, have tested positive for the variant, a Telangana health official said on Wednesday.
In Tamil Nadu, a 47-year-old man who had arrived from Nigeria, along with six of his family members a few days ago, has tested positive for the new variant, marking the first such case in the state. The passenger who arrived there from Nigeria via Doha on December 10 had tested Covid-19 positive and six of his family members too had tested positive for the virus, the Minister for Medical and Family Welfare said. Later, the passenger had tested positive for Omicron.
Maharashtra, with the highest number of Omicron cases, reported four new cases on Wednesday taking the state’s tally to 32. Of the four patients, one is a woman and three are men – all between the age group of 16 years and 67 years. Out of four new cases, two are from Osmanabad, one from Mumbai and one patient is from Buldhana.
25 out of the 32 patients in the state have been discharged after a negative RT-PCR, the state government said.
The Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading fast in the country and Maharashtra is likely to see a surge of the new variant in January next year, according to a state health official. The cases of Omicron infection will be found in rural areas as well as in cities, Additional Chief Secretary Pradeep Vyas said while making a presentation in the Maharashtra cabinet meeting in Mumbai. Under the Centre’s new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from the “at-risk” countries and they can only leave the airport only after the results come.
Passengers coming from ‘at-risk’ countries to six major Indian airports have to compulsorily pre-book for the on-arrival RT-PCR test from December 20 onwards, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Tuesday. However, it clarified that in case a person faces any difficulty in pre-booking the test, the passenger must not be denied boarding.
The six airports are in Delhi, Mumbai Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. According to the Union health ministry, ‘at-risk countries include those in Europe including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand and Israel.
Omicron cases have also been reported from Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh.
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