Kerala reports 9 new Omicron cases, India’s total tally crosses 220

Amid rising fears regarding the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kerala has recently reported nine new Omicron cases in the state. With the new cases of the COVID-19 variant, the total tally of Omicron cases in Kerala has reached 24.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George confirmed that nine new cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in the state on Wednesday, December 22. Six people who reached Ernakulam and three who reached Thiruvananthapuram have been detected with the virus, the minister said, as reported by PTI.

Out of the nine Omicron cases detected today in Ernakulam, two are from the UK, aged 18 and 47 years, a 43-year-old woman and an 11-year-old from Tanzania, a woman aged 44 from Ghana, and a 26-year-old woman from Ireland.

A couple aged 54 and 52 from Nigeria and a woman aged 51 from the UK were confirmed with the infection in Thiruvananthapuram, as reported by PTI. “All those from Ernakulam reached the state on December 18 and 19 and tested positive on arrival. They don't have any other contacts as they were admitted to the hospital from the airport itself,” she said.

The health minister further added, “Meanwhile, the couple in Thiruvananthapuram reached the state on December 10 and their test on December 17 turned positive. Their daughters are on their contact list. The woman from the UK in Thiruvananthapuram was found positive on arrival.”

The first case of the Omicron variant had been reported in Kerala on December 12 in the Ernakulam district. Till now, the new COVID-19 variant has been detected in 12 states across the country, and the total tally of Omicron cases in India has crossed 220.

Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the Omicron variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant, which led to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new COVID-19 variant has been detected in 89 countries till now, according to WHO.

(With PTI inputs)