Uttar Pradesh on Friday reported its first case of omicron when two individuals, including a male and female from Ghaziabad, were found with the new variant in genome sequencing.
Both, aged 60, had returned from Maharashtra on November 29. He was found positive for Covid-19 on 2 December.
Both of them are asymptomatic and are in home isolation.
Meanwhile, India’s Omicron tally crossed the 100-mark on Friday even as the Center advised people to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings and keep New Year celebrations at a low intensity .
Addressing a joint press conference in Delhi earlier in the day, Health Ministry’s Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said that though the daily Covid-19 cases for the last 20 days are less than 10,000, there is a need to be vigilant in view of the new omicrons. Different and rising cases in other countries.
“Since the Omicron variant is spreading very fast across Europe and most parts of the world, there is a need to avoid non-essential travel, avoid mass gatherings and it is time to observe low intensity festivities and New Year’s Eve. The celebration should begin at a low intensity.” Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR said.
Quoting the DG of the World Health Organization (WHO), Agarwal said, “Omicron is spreading at a rate we haven’t seen with any previous editions. We are concerned that people are dismissing Omicron lightly. “
Responding to a question whether we are into community transmission of Omicron, Agarwal said, “We cannot say at this point that the Omicron variant is widespread in India.”
He said the majority of Omicron cases have a travel history, or contact with a travel history. “On a limited basis, there are one or two cases in which we have not been able to establish any such history, but the process is on to ascertain whether there has been any travel or contact history,” he said.
(with inputs from PTI)
Reading: Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla reviews COVID-19 situation amid surge in Omicron cases