Six from family, one other test Omicron positive in Pune; Maharashtra's tally now 8

Follow us on

Six people from a family who returned from Nigeria, and another man who arrived from Finland tested positive for Omicron on Sunday, taking the city's tally to 7 and the total caseload of the country to 12. 

A woman and her two daughters arrived in Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune from Lagos, Nigeria to meet her brother. Later, the brother, his two daughters, and the woman's family tested positive for Omicron, said sources. The other man who also tested Omicron positive had arrived in Pune from Finland.

The first two cases of Omicron were reported in Karnataka on Thursday. On Saturday, the third and the fourth case of the infection were reported from Gujarat's Jamnagar and Maharashtra's Dombivli. Delhi also reported its first case of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron on Sunday.

With 7 new Omicron cases reported from Maharashtra's Pune, the country's tally jumped to 12. The new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.

On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. The WHO has classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern'.

Dozens of countries have imposed travel restrictions on the southern African nations since the mutation was discovered.

The new Omicron coronavirus variant has been confirmed in 23 countries and their number is expected to rise, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said.

India has also added several countries to the list from where travelers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in the country, including post-arrival testing for infection. 

ALSO READ | Omicron variant: Delhi reports first case, India's total tally now stands at 5