Seven new Omicron cases found in Maharashtra, 3-year-old among patients

As many as seven new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were reported in Maharashtra on Friday, taking the state's total count to 17. Out of the seven, three cases have been detected in Mumbai and four in Pune.

The cases confirmed in Mumbai are three males aged 25, 37 and 48 years, all with a recent travel history to the UK, South Africa and Tanzania.

In Pune, the four new patients, including a three-and-half-year-old child, are the close contacts of the Indian-origin Nigerian woman who was detected Omicron positive last Sunday.

Of the new cases, 4 are fully vaccinated while one has taken a single jab, one has not been inoculated, and the child is not eligible for the vaccine.

Three of them are having mild symptoms and the others are found asymptomatic, but all have been isolated and undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Mumbai and Pune.

Surveillance at the international airports in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur has been further intensified with 9,678 passengers landing here from the "high risk" countries from the total 61,439 travellers.

From these, the samples of 25 found positive have been sent from genomic sequencing, including 20 from the "at risk" nations and five from other countries, said health officials.

A total of 89 samples have been sent for genomic sequencing of which results of 47 are awaited, and so far 17 have been found infected with Omicron.

Last week on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, a total of 10 Omicron cases were detected among passengers arriving in the state.