Omicron cases in India cross 150 with new patients in Maharashtra, Gujarat

India's Omicron Covid count rose to 153 after Maharashtra reported six and Gujarat logged four more cases of the new variant of coronavirus on Sunday.

According to central and state officials, omicron cases have been detected in 11 states and union territories. Maharashtra has the highest number of Omicron cases in India at 54.

Delhi has so far confirmed 22 cases, Rajasthan 17, Karnataka 14, Telangana 20, Gujarat 11, Kerala 11. Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have one case each.

Of the six new patients in Maharashtra, two had a history of travel to Tanzania, two others had returned from England and one from the Middle East. All five of them are fully vaccinated.

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Another patient is a five-year-old boy from Junnar in Pune who is close contact with Dubai travellers from Junnar, state officials said.

Out of 54 cases in the state, 22 have been found in Mumbai.

In Gujarat, a 45-year-old NRI and a teenage boy who came from the UK, a Surat-based woman who had recently visited Dubai and a Tanzanian national are the new patients of the Omicron variant.

The non-resident Indian tested positive for the coronavirus infection in the RT-PCR test carried out at the Ahmedabad international airport soon after he arrived from the UK on December 15, a health department official said on Sunday.

"The man's sample was later found infected with the Omicron variant," Anand district health officer Dr M T Chhari said.

He was scheduled to reach the state's Anand city from Ahmedabad.

"But, after he tested positive for the coronavirus, he was taken to the Ahmedabad civil hospital from the airport. The patient is currently recovering at the Ahmedabad civil hospital," Dr Chhari said.

His co-passengers and other contacts have tested negative for the viral infection, the official said.

A 15-year-old boy from Gandhinagar was also detected with the Omicron variant after returning from the UK, Gandhinagar Municipal Commissioner Dhaval Patel said.

While Omicron was first reported in South Africa on November 24, India's first two cases of this heavily mutated version of the coronavirus were detected in Karnataka on December 2.