India's tally of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 increased to 126 on Saturday as Karnataka and Kerala reported six and four cases respectively, while another three persons in Maharashtra also tested positive for the heavily muted strain.
According to official data, Omicron cases have been detected in as many as 11 states and union territories. Maharashtra leads with 43 cases, followed by Delhi (22) and Rajasthan (17). Karnataka with 14 cases, Telangana (8), Gujarat (7), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1) make up the rest of the list. Most of the infected persons have returned from overseas travel.
Of the six new cases in Karnataka, one is a passenger from the UK, while five others are from COVID-19 clusters in two educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada district.
"Two cluster outbreaks of COVID have been reported from two educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada today: Cluster 1: 14 cases (of which 4 are Omicron). Cluster 2: 19 cases (1 is Omicron). A traveller from the UK has also tested positive for Omicron," Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said in a tweet.
In Kerala, two cases of the new variant of the coronavirus were detected from Thiruvananthapuram while Malappuram and Thrissur districts accounted for one each.
"The 17-year-old patient in Thiruvananthapuram came from the UK while the 44-year-old reached the state from Tunisia in a chartered flight. The patient in Malappuram came from Tanzania while the Thrissur native came from Kenya," Health Minister Veena George said in a press statement.
A couple and their 13-year-old daughter have tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus after returning to Satara in western Maharashtra from Uganda, officials said.
The Centre has warned it is likely that the spread of the new variant will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission.
It has advised people to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings and keep New Year celebrations at low intensity.
Also read: Omicron spreads to 89 countries, cases doubling in less than 3 days
