Maharashtra reports four new Omicron cases, tally rises to 32

Mumbai: Maharashtra reported four new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, taking the tally of those infected with this strain to 32, the state health department said on Wednesday. Of the total 32 patients, 25 have been discharged after a negative RT-PCR, it said."As per the report given by the National Institute of Virology today, 4 more patients were found to be infected with Omicron in the state. Out of these four patients, two are from Osmanabad, one from Mumbai and one patient is from Buldhana," the department said in a bulletin.All these laboratory samples were taken in the first week of December. Of the four patients, one is a woman and three are men - all between the age group of 16 years and 67 years."All patients are asymptomatic," the bulletin said.According to preliminary information, one patient from Osmanabad travelled to Sharjah and another patient is his high risk contact. The third case is a patient from Buldhana who travelled to Dubai, while the fourth patient is from Mumbai who travelled to Ireland, it said.All these are isolated in hospitals, it added. The close contacts of these patients are being tracked, it added.It added that of the four, three patients have been inoculated, while one is not eligible for vaccination. Giving the break-up of 32 patients infected with the Omicron variant in the state, it said.Mumbai reported 13 cases, Pimpri Chinchwad (in Pune district) (10), Pune city (two), Osmanabad- (two), Kalyan Dombivali, Nagpur, Latur, Vasai Virar, Buldhana (one each).