Eighteen students have tested positive for coronavirus at a school in Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra after a student was found infected with the virus. Mass testing of the students is now being carried out and the number may go up.

The father of the student who was initially found positive had recently returned from Qatar, following which the entire family was tested for Covid-19. Though the man tested negative his son was found infected with the virus.

Since the boy had been attending school, several students were tested and 18 were found positive. Mass testing is on at the school and the number may go up.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 902 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and eight infections of the new Omicron variant.  The total number of infections due to the new variant of coronavirus has now gone up to 48 in the state, the health department said.

Of these, six patients were from Pune, one was from Mumbai and another from Kalyan-Dombivli on the outskirts of Mumbai. All eight new Omicron patients were male and aged between 29 to 45 years, it added.

Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh are the other states that have detected cases of the new variant. Most of the Omicron has been found in people returning from overseas travel.

The Centre has asked states to step up surveillance and send samples for genome sequencing to keep infections in check.  Restrictions for travellers arriving from abroad have already been put in place.

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