post bureauNEW DELHI/Mumbai/ Hyderabad: Telangana and West Bengal reported their first cases of the Omicron variant of Covid on Wednesday, while four more persons tested positive in Maharashtra.
So far, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 32, followed by Rajasthan at 17. Omicron cases have also been reported in Karnataka (3), Gujarat (4), Kerala (1), Telangana (2), West Bengal (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and Union Territories of Delhi (8) and Chandigarh (1). With this, the tally of the Omicron variant cases in the country has risen to 70.
A 24-year-old woman from Kenya and a 23-year-old man from Somalia, who landed in Hyderabad on December 12, have tested positive for the variant, a Telangana health official said on Wednesday.
State Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao told reporters that the two foreign nationals were asymptomatic.
Though they did not come from 'at risk' countries, their samples were randomly collected and sent for genome sequencing in line with the protocols.
The two close contacts of the Kenyan woman have been identified and their samples sent for Covid testing. She was admitted to the state-run Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) in the city.
The Omicron-positive Somalian national could not be tracked immediately. He was, however, found later on Wednesday and shifted to the TIMS, Rao said.
West Bengal officials said a seven-year-old boy, resident of Murshidabad district who recently returned from Abu Dhabi via Hyderabad, tested positive for the new variant. He left for a relative's place in Malda from Kolkata airport.
"The boy flew with his parents from Abu Dhabi to Hyderabad, where he tested positive for Omicron. He had not entered Hyderabad city. He returned to Kolkata on December 11.
"The state health department was alerted about his Omicron report by authorities in Hyderabad only on Wednesday morning," the senior official said.
The boy has been shifted to a hospital in Malda, he said.
The Omicron variant is spreading fast in the world and Maharashtra is likely to see a surge in cases infected by it in January next year. The cases of Omicron infection will be found in rural areas as well as in cities, Additional Chief Secretary Pradeep Vyas said while making a presentation in the Maharashtra Cabinet meeting in Mumbai.
Another study suggests the spike should be no cause for panic as the infectious disease appears to be approaching a stage of endemicity in which transmissibility will remain high, but the virus will not cause severe disease. Meanwhile, India logged 6,984 new infections, while the active cases declined to 87,562, according to the Union Health ministry data updated on Wednesday.
With the fresh cases, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 3,47,10,628. The death toll climbed to 4,76,135 with 247 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 135 crore on Wednesday, the ministry said. As many as 53,84,094 vaccine doses had been administered till 7 pm on Wednesday, it said.
Uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen in sufficient quantity is of critical importance to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre said on Wednesday, urging states and UTs to conduct mock drills to ensure full functionality of all oxygen equipment.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan addressed a meeting with states and Union territories to review their status and preparedness regarding medical oxygen devices and systems (PSA plants, LMO plants, oxygen concentrators, medical gas pipeline system) through a video conference, a Health ministry statement said.
The states and UTs were informed that the Union government has assisted them through availability of equipment, technical and financial support for PSA plants, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, liquid medical oxygen (LMO) plants and medical gas pipeline systems (MGPS), and they were urged to review and monitor the status of these on a daily basis to ensure that the gap between equipment and systems delivered to the districts and installed at healthcare facilities is reduced to zero.
They were also strongly urged to schedule and conduct mock drills of all installed and commissioned PSA plants to ensure that they are in fully operational status, so that the oxygen with the required quantity, pressure and purity reaches the intended patients at their bedside. These drills are to be completed by the end of December, the statement said.