MUMBAI: The Omicron menace seems to march on with impunity with 111 positive cases of the super variant having been detected across 11 states and union territories thus far. This score is exactly a fortnight after the first case was detected in Karnataka; 20 new cases were reported on Friday -- Maharashtra(8) and Delhi(12), to take their total to 40 and 22, respectively. Telangana and Kerala recorded two more cases each to take their tally to eight and seven, respectively. The new lurking danger notwithstanding, the daily COVID-19 cases are below 10,000 for the past 20 days.
Maharashtra had little to cheer about on Friday with eight more persons testing positive for the variant, of which six are from Pune and one each from Mumbai and Kalyan Dombivali, as per the report of the National Institute of Virology. The total number of cases in the state has spiked to 40, of which 25 have been discharged.
Among the 40, 14 cases are from Mumbai, Pimpri Chinchwad (10), Pune rural (6), with two each in Pune, Kalyan, Dombivali and Osmanabad, and one each in Latur, Buldhana, Nagpur and Vasai-Virar.
State surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate said the samples from the eight infected persons were taken in the first week of December. Of these, four from Pune had been to Dubai, while two are their close contacts. The Mumbai patient had travelled to the US, while another patient from the KDMC had been to Nigeria
‘‘Seven patients are asymptomatic and only one had mild symptoms, following which they were isolated at hospital and home. Currently, only two patients are hospitalised. We are also tracking all their close contacts. Moreover, all the patients were fully vaccinated against Covid-19,” he said.
The two big clusters seem to be in Mumbai and Pimpri Chinchwad. According to Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope, there could be large-scale transmission of the Omicron variant by January-February. Districts have been asked to ensure that Christmas and New Year festivities are muted and crowding is avoided at all cost. “No major events are likely to be allowed. Final guidelines will be issued soon,” said an official.
