Covid-19: 23 more found infected with new Omicron variant in Maharashtra

PUNE: As many as 23 more Covid patients across the state, including 13 from Pune district, were found infected with the Omicron variant of the virus on Thursday, taking the tally of its cases in Maharashtra to 88 so far.
The district’s tally of Omicron cases stands at 35.
Of the 23 cases confirmed on Thursday, seven are from the Pimpri Chinchwad municipal limits, followed by Mumbai (5), the Pune civic areas (3), Pune rural limits (3) and Osmanabad (2). Thane, Nagpur and Mira-Bhayandar have reported one case each.
The Pimpri Chinchwad cases, including a child, have travel history to Dubai, Europe and South Africa. There are two different families who had tested positive for Covid-19 on December 17 and 18, after which their swab samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for genome sequencing, which confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant.
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s additional commissioner Vikas Dhakane said of the seven patients, four were being treated at the civic-run New Bhosari hospital, and three were being treated at a private hospital. “We are also tracing and testing their close contacts,” said the official.
A press statement from the PCMC said, “With the Thursday’s result, the tally of Omicron patients in the Pimpri Chinchwad civic limits has reached 19, of which 10 have recovered, while seven are active cases.” A press statement from the state public health department stated, “Out of the 23 new Omicron cases, 22 were reported by the NIV and one case was reported by National Chemical Laboratory (NCL). Of them, 16 have international travel history, while seven are their high-risk contacts. The patients also include four kids under the age of 18. Seventeen patients are asymptomatic.”