Maharashtra reports 11 new Omicron cases, 8 from Mumbai

Maharashtra detected 11 new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus on Tuesday, which have now taken the state’s tally to 65, according to health officials.

With the latest Omicron cases in Maharashtra, India’s tally of such infections has gone up to 213.

Eight Omicron patients were found at the Mumbai airport during surveillance and one each from Pimpri Chinchwad, Osmanabad and Navi Mumbai areas, officials said.

They also said that out of the 65 Omicron patients, 34 have been discharged after a negative RT-PCR report.

The cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 13 states and UTs in India so far out of which 77 patients have recovered or migrated, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said earlier on Tuesday.

Among other regions, Delhi has recorded 54 cases of Omicron variant, Telangana registered 20, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 18, Kerala 15 and Gujarat 14 cases, the health ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Centre asked state governments to be proactive and on the lookout for surges of the Omicron variant after cases.

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in his letter to states that they could take containment measures, including night curfews and allow fewer people at offices and on public transport, if a surge is reported.

States have been allowed to impose restrictions if the rate of new infections reached 10 per cent or higher in a week or 40 per cent of oxygen or ICU beds were occupied. Bhushan told states to impose such measures even if the surge was not that high given the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant.

“Keeping in mind the higher transmissibility of Omicron, States/UTs (Union territories) can take containment measures and restrictions even before these thresholds are reached,” he said in his letter to state governments.

“Kindly activate the War rooms/EOCs (Emergency Operation Centre) and keep analysing all trends and surges, no matter how small and keep taking proactive action at the district/local level,” he added.

There have been no Omicron deaths reported so far and data shows patients either fully recovered or were discharged in less than 40% of cases.

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Parliament on Monday that 80 per cent of Omicron cases were asymptomatic. “We are keeping an eye on the variant and in coming days, we will monitor its effects,” Mandaviya said.