Three more Omicron cases were reported in Telangana on Saturday, December 25, taking the total number of cases of the new coronavirus variant in the state to 41, said the state Health Department. The three were passengers who arrived at the international airport in Hyderabad from countries other than those declared ‘at-risk’ by the Union government, a bulletin from the state Health Department said. The bulletin said that a further 20 samples are awaited for their Omicron status.
Meanwhile, Telangana reported 140 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,80,553 while the death toll rose to 4,021 with two more fatalities. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 92, followed by Ranga Reddy district (14), a state bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 pm on Saturday.
The number of recoveries outnumbered fresh cases with 186 people recovering from the infectious disease. The cumulative number of recoveries till date was 6,73,033. The number of active cases was 3,499, the bulletin said. It said 26,947 samples were tested today and the total number of samples tested till date was 2,94,95,891. The samples tested per 10 lakh population were 7,92,474. The case fatality rate in the state was 0.59% and the recovery rate 98.89%.
Earlier, ahead of Christmas, the Telangana High Court had directed the state government to put restrictions in place in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus during the holiday season. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N Tukaramji asked the Telangana government to restrict public gatherings during Christmas, New Year and Sankranthi celebrations, and has reportedly asked the government to respond to the matter soon.