Omicron in India: Total cases and 4 other updates

India is now seeing an exponential rise in Omicron cases and there are no deaths reported yet. Cases have risen in the past week; and several states are getting restrictions back in place.

Here are the latest updates on Omicron: 

1. INDIA HAS 97 OMICRON CASES IN TOTAL

Here's the states break-up:

Maharashtra - 32

Delhi - 20

Rajasthan - 17

Karnataka - 8

Gujarat - 5

Kerala - 5

Telangana - 6

West Bengal - 1

Andhra Pradesh - 1

Chandigarh - 1

Tamil Nadu - 1

2. 10 NEW OMICRON CASES IN DELHI 

Ten new cases of Omicron were confirmed in the national capital on December 17. The state tally is now at 20 and all have been admitted at Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. Delhi's Health Minister Satyendar Jain was quoted by PTI as saying, "Delhi logs 10 new cases of Omicron, tally now 20. Of these, 10 have been discharged." The Health Minister also said that none of the Omicron cases are severe.

Delhi logs 10 new cases of Omicron, tally now 20. Of these, 10 have been discharged: Health Minister Satyendar Jain

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 17, 2021

3. 12 NEW OMICRON CASES EMERGE IN TELANGANA 

G Srinivas Rao, Health Director, Telangana has confirmed that there are 8 Omicron cases in Telangana. The director said that all cases are imported.  

4. VACCINATED WOMAN WITH NO TRAVEL HISTORY TESTS POSITIVE FOR OMICRON IN GUJARAT 

A fully vaccinated 21-year-old woman tested positive for Omicron in Vijapur, Mehsana district in Gujarat on December 16. As per the Mehsana chief district health officer Dr Vishnu Patel, the woman is asymptomatic and stable. Even though she has no travel history, her family recently interacted, at a funeral, with the relatives of a person who had returned from Zimbabwe. Dr Patel said on December 16, "The Zimbabwe-returnees arrived in India on November 25. They have gone through RT-PCR tests thrice since their arrival but have been negative for Covid-19. The 41-year old woman who has now been detected with Omicron attended a funeral function on November 28 along with the Zimbabwe-returnees, who are her relatives.”