Two Omicron cases have been detected in Telangana, the state said on Wednesday, 15 December. West Bengal, meanwhile, has detected its first case. India's Omicron tally now stands at 64.
All three cases were detected in random tests conducted at the Hyderabad airport. Of them, a seven-year-old boy had left for West Bengal on a connecting flight. The Telangana government has alerted the West Bengal government, state Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao said.
The trio, who had arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday, tested positive for the Omicron variant on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, eight patients in Maharashtra were found to have the variant on Tuesday, of which seven were in Mumbai. Two patients are hospitalised, while the others are in home isolation.
Maharashtra has so far identified a total of 28 cases of Omicron, and has discharged nine patients after a negative RT-PCR test.
As per preliminary information, of the eight new cases detected on Tuesday, seven had been vaccinated, and none of them had a history of international travel.
Further, four new Omicron cases were detected in Delhi earlier in the day, taking the total number of cases in the national capital to six, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.
Jain added that of the six cases, one patient has been discharged from the hospital.
Four more cases have been reported in Rajasthan, state Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said, taking the tally to 17.
"The health condition of these patients is stable. All previous Omicron cases in the State have tested negative for COVID now," he added, according to news agency ANI.
Gujarat on Monday had detected its fourth Omicron case in Surat. A 42-year-old diamond trader from the gem hub of Ashwani Kumar Road had tested positive for the new variant, following his long travel history in South Africa.
"The patient is asymptomatic, and he was initially admitted in the hospital for three days. But thereafter, we have placed him in home isolation," Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Health, Ashish Nayak told IANS.
Kerala on Sunday had reported its first omicron case, after a person from Kochi tested positive for the new COVID-19 variant. Apart from that, there are currently three Omicron patients in Karnataka, and one each in Chandigarh and Andhra Pradesh.
(With inputs from ANI.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)