India's Omicron count at 358; 183 such cases analysed, says health ministry

Addressing a press briefing on the Covid-19 situation, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said an analysis of 183 Omicron cases was done which showed that 121 such cases had a foreign travel history.

The Union health ministry said on Friday that 17 states and Union Territories (UTs) in India have reported cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which was first detected in South Africa in November.

Of the 358 cases of the Omicron variant in the country, Maharashtra is leading with 88 cases, followed by Delhi with 67 and Telangana with 38. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT file photo)

Addressing a press briefing on the Covid-19 situation, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "There are 358 cases of Omicron in total and out of these, 114 have recovered.”

Bhushan said an analysis of 183 Omicron cases was done which showed that 121 such cases had a foreign travel history.

“Forty-four cases out of the 183 Omicron cases analysed had no foreign travel history, but the majority of them were contacts of foreign travellers. The travel history of the remaining 18 cases is not known,” Bhushan said.

He added that 61% of the Omicron cases analysed were male and 39% were females.

“About the vaccination status, 87 patients were fully vaccinated and out of these, three were also inoculated with the booster dose. Seven patients were unvaccinated and two were partially vaccinated and 16 were ineligible to take the jab. The vaccination status of 73 patients is unknown," the Union health secretary added during Friday's briefing.

The health ministry has been holding regular discussions with states and UTs to monitor the emerging concerns of Omicron, Rajesh Bhushan also said.

A day before the health ministry's briefing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a review meeting on the Covid-19 pandemic situation and said that people have to be alert and cautious because of the new variant.

Modi ordered officials to make sure that health systems in states, starting from the district level, are strengthened to meet any challenges posed by Omicron.

Of the 358 cases of the variant in the country, Maharashtra is leading with 88 cases, followed by Delhi with 67 and Telangana with 38. The lowest number of cases has been reported at Chandigarh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand- all at one each.