India's Omicron tally rises to 238 after Haryana, Uttarakhand report first cases
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The total cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus in India rose to 238 on Thursday morning, according to Union Health Ministry data.
The surge in tally comes after Haryana and Uttarakhand reported their first case of the Omicron variant on Wednesday.
The health authorities in Haryana's Karnal district confirmed one case after the strain was found in a 33-year-old man with a travel history to Portugal. The other case was confirmed in Faridabad in a person who recently came from Canada.
A woman aged 23, who arrived in Uttarakhand's capital Dehradun from Scotland, tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19, thereby becoming the first such patient in the hill state. The director-general of health, Uttarakhand, Dr Tripti Bahuguna, said the woman, a resident of Dehradun, reached Delhi airport on December 8 and at the time, her RT-PCR test report had come out as negative.
Meanwhile, the tally in Kerala has gone up to 24 with nine more Covid-19 patients turning positive for the Omicron variant on Wednesday, said State Health Minister Veena George.
She said that out of the nine patients, six came from various countries to Kochi, while three arrived at the airport in the capital city.
"The six who came to Kochi had tested Covid positive at the airport and were quickly admitted to a hospital and hence there were none in their contact list. While one passenger who arrived from the UK tested Covid positive on arrival here, was moved to a hospital, while two others who arrived from Nigeria on December 10 turned positive later and had just two of their children as the primary contact," added George.
With 65 cases, Maharashtra tops the list of states with maximum detected cases of Omicron. Delhi is second on the list with 57 reported cases, followed by 24 in Telangana and Kerala, 23 in Gujarat, 22 in Rajasthan, and 19 in Karnataka.