Delhi adds 4 new Omicron variant cases; national tally rises to 49

India’s Omicron tally rose to 49 on Tuesday afternoon with Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat adding more cases of the COVID-19 variant.

Delhi reported four news cases of Omicron, taking the state’s count to 6 so far, state Health Minister Satyendra Jain said on Tuesday.

Omicron has now been reported in six states- Maharashtra (20), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Gujarat (4), Kerala (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and two union territories- Delhi (6) and Chandigarh (1).

Both the Omicron patients found in Maharashtra were fully vaccinated, are asymptomatic and have a Dubai travel history, while the man who tested positive in Gujarat had returned from South Africa.

This comes a day after Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh reported their first Omicron case.

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While one of two new cases was reported from Latur, the other one was found in Pune, according to a report released on Monday by the National Institute of Virology.

The Pune case is a 39-year old woman, while the Latur patient is a 33-year-old male. Both the patients have a travel history to Dubai, the health ministry said in a bulletin. It said three close contacts of both these patients have been traced and all are found to be negative.

Gujarat reported its fourth Omicron case in Surat where a 42-year-old man who had returned from South Africa tested positive. The man had taken a test on arrival, but was found negative. He, however, took a test again after he started developing symptoms on reaching Gujarat, officials said.

The Omicron variant was first detected in India in Bengaluru with two people testing positive for it comprising a South African national of Indian origin and a doctor.

On Saturday, Delhi had reported its second case – a 35-year-old man with travel history to Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his government will impose restrictions, if required, around Christmas and New Year to curb the spread of the Omicron variant even as he maintained that currently, there is no need for any such measures.

He said the Delhi government is fully prepared to deal with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and he is in constant touch with experts over the issue.

The Tamil Nadu government announced banning public gatherings at all beaches in the state on December 31 and January 1.

In Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said COVID-19 clusters should be identified and genetic sequencing tests increased there.

The direction to the health department was given by the chief during the COVID review meeting held during the day after the first Omicron case was confirmed in the state.

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The chief minister also said that all the 36 persons who had come in close contact with the Omicron confirmed patient from Ernakulam were in isolation, a press release said.

The patient had arrived in Kochi with his wife on December 6 via Abu Dhabi on an Etihad flight.

Cases of Omicron, which is categorised as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation, have been detected in about 60 countries.

(With inputs from agencies)