Fourteen more Omicron cases have been reported in Telangana, taking the total number of cases of the new coronavirus variant in the state to 38, the state Health Department said on Wednesday, December 22. Of the 14 cases, 12 are passengers who arrived at the international airport in Hyderabad from countries other than those declared as ‘at-risk’ by the Union government, while two are from ‘at-risk’ countries, according to a bulletin issued by the department.
The bulletin said four samples are awaited with regard to their Omicron status. The news comes after the Health Department said on Tuesday that four cases of the Omicron variant were detected in the state. Of these, three landed at the Hyderabad airport from non-at-risk countries, the Health Department said. Earlier, Telangana Director of Public Health G Srinivas Rao had said that 2% random samples were being tested and sequenced among passengers from non-at-risk countries, as per Union government guidelines. However, he added that authorities in Hyderabad were focusing on testing more of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers.
India has so far recorded close to 250 cases of Omicron across 15 states and Union Territories, even though at least 90 of the infected people have either recovered or migrated. Amid fresh concerns caused by the Omicron variant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting on the COVID-19 situation in the country on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Telangana reported 182 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,80,074, while the death toll rose to 4,017 with one more fatality. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 91, followed by Hanumakonda (18) district, a bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM today. The number of recoveries outnumbered fresh cases with 196 people recovering from the infectious disease. The cumulative number of recoveries till date was 6,72,447. The number of active cases was 3,610, the bulletin said.