A total of 436 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in India so far, out of which 115 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data updated on Saturday.
Maharashtra has recorded a maximum of 108 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi at 79, Gujarat 43, Rajasthan 43, Telangana 38, Kerala 37, Tamil Nadu 34 and Karnataka 31.
Of these,11 are from Jaipur, six from Ajmer and three from Udaipur. One of the patients is from Maharashtra. Results from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune showed all of them positive for Omicron, a spokesperson of the health department said.
Among the 21 new cases, five have a history of travelling from other countries, three came in contact with foreign travelers, three were in contact of Omicron cases diagnosed earlier.
“More Omicron cases have been reported. We are appealing to people to get vaccinated with both the doses. If people get vaccinated with both doses, the risk of complication reduces significantly. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has directed to make vaccine compulsory and people should take both doses before January 31,” Parsadi Lal Meena, health minister, told TOI.
The health department has collected details of all the 21 cases of Omicron. “Eight of the 21 have recovered from Covid. All the cases are fully vaccinated, except a girl, who is not eligible for vaccination as she has not attained 18 years yet,” said a senior health department official.
After the health department received the genome sequencing report from NIV Pune, they started the exercise of ensuring that the 13 cases, who are yet to recover, should be admitted to hospital. According to the Centre’s guidelines, those infected with the new variant must be admitted to Omicron wards.
Of the 11 new Omicron cases in Jaipur, one each had arrived from London and Dubai and one each has a travel history to Mumbai and Chandigarh. In addition, a husbandwife duo of Jawahar Nagar, another couple from Vidhyadhar Nagar, and three cases from a family in Jhalana areas have tested positive for Omicron.
“An 18-year-old boy from Gopalpura, who had arrived from London on December 10, was tested positive for Covid on December18. Another a person who arrived from Dubai also tested positive. In Vidhyadhar Nagar, a person who developed Covid symptoms and got checked on December 15, also tested positive for the virus. On December 18, his wife also tested positive. Now, they have tested negative for the virus,” said Dr Narrottam Sharma, chief medical health officer, Jaipur.
