Maharashtra Omicron scare: Six people including 5-year-old boy test positive, tally reaches 54

The five Omicron infected patients have a history of international travel— two had a history of travel to Tanzania, two others had returned from England and one from the Middle East.

File Photo (Reuters)

New Delhi: With six new cases of the Omicron variant in Maharashtra, the total tally of the new COVID-19 variant reached 54 in the state on Sunday (December 19). 

The five infected patients have a history of international travel— two had a history of travel to Tanzania, two others had returned from England and one from the Middle East, PTI reported. 

“Total six cases were diagnosed today - four of them found during the airport screening in Mumbai. One of these four patients is from Mumbai, two from Karnataka and one from Aurangabad. While two had a history of travel to Tanzania, two others had travelled to England,” the health department said in a statement. 

All five adults in the age group of 21 to 57 years are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The sixth patient found infected with Omicron variant is a five-year-old boy from Junnar in Pune district.

"A five-year-old boy, who is a close contact of Dubai travellers from Junnar in Pune district, has been diagnosed with the Omicron variant. The patient is asymptomatic," the statement added. 

Out of 54 Omicron cases found in Maharashtra, 22 are in Mumbai, 11 cases are in Pimpri Chinchwad, seven in Pune rural, three each in Pune city and Satara, two each in Kalyan Dombivli (Thane district) and Osmanabad, one each in Buldhana, Nagpur, Latur, Vasai-Virar.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) has said infection numbers of  Omicron are doubling at least every 3 days. "It is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant in countries with documented community transmission, with a doubling time between 1.5-3 days. Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity and it remains uncertain to what extent the observed rapid growth rate can be attributed to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility or a combination of both," the WHO said on Saturday. 

As many as 89 countries have detected Omicron cases as of December 16, the WHO added. 

(With agency inputs)