Omicron variant in India: Maharashtra reports seven new cases; India's tally rises to 32

Maharashtra on Friday reported its 17th case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant after seven more people tested positive. With this, India's Omicron tally rose to 32 on a day when the government warned about weakening coronavirus precautions like mask-wearing.Of the seven new cases, three are from Mumbai and four from Pimpri Chinchwad, the state health department said on Friday.Among the new patients, four are asymptomatic, while three have mild symptoms. Four patients are fully vaccinated, one person has received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and another patient is completely unvaccinated, reported News18.A three-year-old child was also among the seven new cases in the state.Earlier today, officials said that a resident of Dharavi area in Mumbai, who recently returned from Tanzania, was found to have contracted Omicron infection.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the 49-year-old man, a Maulavi, who had arrived in Mumbai to give sermons at a mosque in Dharavi, is "completely asymptomatic" and is admitted at the Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai, reported News18.Random testing was conducted when he landed in Mumbai on 4 December from Tanzania. Results of his genome sequencing report arrived on Friday.Seven cases have been found in Pune district, but Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said earlier in the day that five out of them have now tested negative for the infection.Tanzania does not figure in the list of "at-risk" countries, but the Dharavi resident tested positive for COVID-19 during the mandatory random checking of two percent of arrivals at the Mumbai airport.When his test came out positive, a medical team from G-North ward (where Dharavi falls) tracked him down immediately.Dharavi in central Mumbai is known as the biggest slum in Asia where over six lakh people live in a 2.5 square km area.Pawar held a meeting with state Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil and other officials today to review the coronavirus situation in Pune."In Maharashtra, we have tracked and traced a total of 4,604 foreign travellers. The administration is contacting them and asking about their health regularly," he noted.Centre warns against declining mask usageAt a joint press briefing earlier today, the government said that 25 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in India so far and that mostly mild symptoms have been noted in all the cases.Providing a breakdown of the cases, Joint secretary, health ministry, Lav Agarwal said that there were nine reported cases in Rajasthan, three in Gujarat, 10 in Maharashtra, two in Karnataka, and one in Delhi.The health ministry in its briefing also said that all the detected cases had mild symptoms.59 nations reported 2,936 Omicron cases so farSpeaking of the transmissibility of the new COVID-19 variant, which has been called a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organisation, the joint health secretary said that till 24 November only two countries had reported Omicron cases. However, as of today 59 countries have reported 2,936 instances of the Omicron infections.The ministry of health added that surveillance, effective screening, monitoring of international travellers and health infrastructure upgradation is being done in the country.Balram Bhargava, Director-General at the Indian Council of Medical Research, also said that we shouldn't spread panic and that the Centre was holding regular meeting to keep a watch on the global scenario with a focus on Omicron.The government also issued a warning about declining mask usage and safety norms."WHO is warning against the decline in mask usage. Global scene of Omicron is disturbing... We are now operating at a risky and unacceptable level. We have to remember that both vaccines and masks are important," Dr VK Paul, the NITI Aayog member for health said.A recent survey revealed that mask compliance continues to remain at its lowest in the country, with only 2 percent of surveyed citizens saying that people in their area, city or district are complying well with mask-wearing norms. The survey conducted by digital community based platform LocalCircles, said that one in three Indians do not carry a mask when they step out of their house.The government said 86.2 per cent of the country's adult population received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 53.5 per cent has been administered both doses.It said the weekly positivity rate in 19 districts was between five and 10 percent and it was over 10 percent in eight districts of three states.India's coronavirus tally climbed to 3,46,74,744 with the addition of 8,503 infections in a day, while the number of active cases rose to 94,943, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.The toll mounted to 4,74,735 with the addition of 624 new fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 43 days now.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. 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