Five more cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus were detected in Kerala on Thursday, taking the total number of infected to 29, state Health Minister Veena George said.
As many as four people, who have reached Ernakulam, and a native of Kozhikode district have been detected with the virus.
Two persons, aged 28 and 24 who arrived from the United Kingdom, a 35-year-old person who came from Albania and another one from Nigeria were those found infected in Ernakulam, she said in a statement here.
The man, who was found infected in Kozhikode, was the one who came to the state from Bengaluru airport.
"With this, the total Omicron cases in Kerala has become 29. Of the total infected, 17 have reached the state from high-risk countries and 10 from low-risk nations. Two persons have contracted the virus through contact," George said.
Those confirmed with the virus infection in Ernakulam reached the state on December 15, 19 and 20.
While the Pathanamthitta native reached from Nigeria on December 14 and was found positive after four days during home quarantine, the man from Bengaluru airport reached Kerala on December 19.
The state had detected its first Omicron case on December 12 in Ernakulam district when a person who had returned from the UK tested positive.
Meanwhile, fresh COVID-19 cases in the southern state again dropped below the 3,000 mark with the state today reporting 2,514 new infections which took the caseload to 52,16,457.
On Thursday, the state also reported 323 deaths which raised the toll to 45,861, a government release said.
As many as 55,631 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. Among the 14 districts, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest with 458 fresh cases, followed by Ernakulam (369) and Kozhikode (305).
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