Hyderabad: A total of 422 Omicron cases have been reported till date in the country, according to the Health Ministry. Due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced booster shots for health and frontline workers and those above 60 from January 10. In a late night address, the Prime Minister declared vaccinations for kids between 15 and 18 years from January 3.
Rajasthan has reported 21 new cases of 'Omicron', taking the number of people infected with the new variant of Covid to 43, an official said. Of these, 11 are from Jaipur, six from Ajmer and three from Udaipur. One of the patients is from Maharashtra. Results from National Institute of Virology Pune showed all of them positive for Omicron, a spokesperson of the health department said on Saturday.
Among these infected, five had returned from foreign countries while three others had come in contact with foreign travellers. Of the total 43 cases of Omicron in the state, 28 are from Jaipur, seven from Ajmer, four from Sikar, three from Udaipur, and the other being the patient from Maharashtra.
The number of active Covidcases in Rajasthan is 244, the official said.
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Meanwhile, seven new cases of Omicron variant have been confirmed in Karnataka taking the total cases to 38, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said.
In a set of tweets, he said, "Seven new cases of Omicron variant have been confirmed in Karnataka on December 25."
According to him, those who tested positive were: a 76-year-old man from Bengaluru, who had travelled from Delhi, a 30-year-old woman from Bengaluru, who came from UAE, a 63-year-old man from Bengaluru who arrived from Zambia and a 54-year-old man from Bengaluru, who was a primary contact of a United Kingdom traveller.
He added that a 21-year-old man from Bengaluru who arrived from the UK, a 62-year-old man from Bengaluru, who came from Delhi, and a 15-year-old boy from Bengaluru who travelled from the USA have also been found infected.
Maharashtra on Saturday recorded two new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the tally of such cases in the state to 110, the health department said.
As many as 57 of these patients have been discharged after testing negative for Cvoid in subsequent testing, it said in a release here.
The two new patients are male, fully vaccinated against coronavirus, and belong to Aurangabad in central Maharashtra. One is 50 years old and another is 33 years old.
One of them had returned from Dubai recently while the second person had come into contact with a person having history of international travel.
One of them is asymptomatic while the other has mild symptoms, the release said.
Since November 1, samples of 729 international passengers have been sent for genome sequencing in the state, of which results of 162 are awaited, it added.
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An intern at Kolkata Medical College has tested positive for Omicron, raising the total number of people found to have got infected with the new variant of coronavirus to six, a senior official of the health department said.
Eight more cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus were detected in Kerala on Friday, taking the total number of infected people to 37, Health Minister Veena George said.
One person each from Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, two each from Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts have been detected with the new variant of the virus.
Three more Omicron cases were reported in Telangana on Saturday, taking the total number of cases of the new coronavirus variant in the State to 41, said the State Health Department. The three were passengers who arrived at the international airport here from countries other than those declared "at risk" by the Centre, said a bulletin.It said 20 samples are awaited for their Omicron status.
Meanwhile, Telangana reported 140 new Cocvid cases, pushing the tally to 6,80,553 while the death toll rose to 4,021 with two more fatalities.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 92 followed by Ranga Reddy district (14), a State bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM today.
Andhra Pradesh reported two new Omicron cases taking the tally in the state to six, according to Director, public health, Andhra Pradesh government, Dr G Hymavathi.
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According to a press note released by Hymavathi on Saturday, a 48 years male traveller of Prakasam district came from South Africa to Hyderabad on December 16 and then to Ongole. The sample was collected on December 19 and declared COVID-19 positive on December 20. The sample was sent to CCMB, Hyderabad for Genome Sequencing and the result was declared as Omicron positive on December 25.
"He is healthy and in quarantine under close observation of the health department. All his primary and secondary contacts are tested and found negative," said the note.
Highlighting the other case that was tested positive, the press note said, "A 51 years male from Anantapuram came from the UK to Bangalore Airport on December 18. The sample was collected on December 20 at Anantapur and the RT-PCR test was found positive on December 21. It was referred to CCMB, Hyderabad for Genome Sequencing and the result was declared as Omicron positive on December 25."
This patient too is healthy and is in quarantine under the close observation of the health department, informed the note. So far a total of 67 International travellers and 12 contacts were found COVID-19 RTPCR Positive and all the samples were sent for Genome sequencing.
"The Public is advised not to worry and believe any rumours but continue to take precautions and follow social distancing, wearing of a mask, washing hands regularly," Hymavathi appealed in her press note.
