Mumbai: There were 19 cases of BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants and 17 of BA. 2.75 variants reported in Maharashtra on Sunday, as per the latest reports from the B J Medical College, Pune. All the patients are from Pune. Of the 19 cases, one was detected with the BA.4 variant and 18 with the BA.5 variant. As reported by The Free Press Journal, a record 35 patients had been detected with BA.4 and BA.5 variants and eight with the BA.2.75 variant in Maharashtra on Saturday.
The state cabinet, at its next meeting, will review the district-ise status and approve additional measures to curb the spread of these variants.
“All these samples, tested at the INSACOG labs in Pune and Mumbai, were from the period between June 25 and July 4. Detailed epidemiological investigation of these cases is currently underway. With this, the tally of BA.4 and BA.5 patients has risen to 132 and that of BA.275 patients to 57 in the state, said a senior public health department official.
District-wise, BA.4 and BA.5 cases include 84 from Pune, 33 from Mumbai, four each from Nagpur and Palghar and three from Raigad. Of the 57 BA.2.75 variant cases, 37 are from Pune, 14 from Nagpur, four from Akola and one each from Thane and Yavatmal.
The public health department has stepped up surveillance and will focus on ramping up the precautionary vaccination dose drive; booster shots will be administered free of cost for 75 days, starting from July 15.
Besides, the department has asked the district administration to increase the pace of testing and vaccination, especially where the weekly positivity rate is higher than the state average of 7.45 per cent. These districts include Pune (28.49 per cent), Aurangabad (21.85 per cent), Amravati (15.60 per cent), Akola (15.45 per cent), Washim (13.35 per cent), Jalna (11.78 per cent), Solapur (10.21 per cent), Satara (9.69 per cent) and Nagpur (9.58 per cent).
On Sunday, 2,186 new cases, including three deaths, were reported in the state and the fatality rate stood at 1.84 per cent. There were 15,525 active cases in the state, as on Sunday.
