Omicron Detected in Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra & Other States; Tally at 23

COVID-19 Omicron variant. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: The Quint)

India has recorded a total of 23 cases of Omicron, the new variant of COVID-19, till the evening of Monday, 6 December. As per reports, all cases detected till now have either been asymptomatic or accompanied by mild symptoms of the disease.

Following are the states that have traced the variant till now.

Karnataka

The first two cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant were detected in Karnataka on 2 December. Both cases had been found in fully vaccinated males aged 46 and 66 years, one of whom recovered swiftly and has already left the country.

Meanwhile, Karnataka officials in a press conference confirmed that two primary contacts of the 46-year-old patient had also tested positive for the virus. Three secondary contacts of the patient too, tested positive.

Maharashtra

Two more cases of Omicron variant were reported in Mumbai on Sunday, 5 December, evening taking Maharashtra's tally now to 10.

The two new additions were a 37-year-old man who had come from Johannesburg, South Africa on 25 November and his 36-year-old friend, who had come from the USA on the same day. Both patients are hospitalised but asymptomatic. They are also vaccinated with Pfizer's COVID-19 jab.

Five high-risk and 315 low-risk contacts of both these patients have been traced. Further tracing is currently underway.

By Monday morning, seven people had tested positive for the variant in Maharashtra, which took the state's total tally to eight.

A family of six, including a 44-year-old woman who had come from Lagos, tested positive for Omicron variant. The woman's two daughters who were accompanying her, her brother and his two daughters also tested positive for the variant.

Additionally, a 47-year-old man from Pune also tested positive.

While the 44-year-old woman had mild symptoms, the other five family members had no symptoms at all. The state health department earlier asked people not to panic.

Rajasthan

Nine cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were recorded in Rajasthan's capital city Jaipur, state health department said on Sunday.

Among the nine people, four had returned from South Africa recently, news agency PTI reported.

Their samples were reportedly forwarded to Jaipur’s government Sawai Man Singh Hospital for genome sequencing.

Delhi

In Delhi, a 37-year-old male, who had returned from Tanzania, was found to be carrying the Omicron COVID-19 variant and was admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital.

LNJP hospital MD Dr Suresh Kumar earlier told The Quint that the patient was asymptomatic and stable.

Gujarat

A man who returned from Zimbabwe to Gujarat's Jamnagar was found to be infected with the variant, the Gujarat health department said on Saturday.

The sample of the 72-year-old Jamnagar resident was sent for genome sequencing to Pune after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.