5 more Omicron cases detected in Karnataka, India's tally now stands at 83

IANS

New Delhi: Five more cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus were found in Karnataka on Thursday (December 16), tweeted state Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K.

This addition takes Karnataka’s total Omicron tally to 8.

Five more cases of #Omicron have been detected in Karnataka today:

19 yr male returning from UK
36 yr male returning from Delhi
70 yr female returning from Delhi
52 yr male returning from Nigeria
33 yr male returning from South Africa @BSBommai #Omicronindia — Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) December 16, 2021

While three of the infected patients have returned from the UK, Nigeria and South Africa, respectively. All of these countries are reporting overwhelming cases of Omicron.

On the other hand, the other two patients have returned from Delhi.

Omicron is the new variant of the coronavirus, which the World Health Organization has classified as a ‘variant of concern.’

India has so far reported 83 cases of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

Earlier today, four more Omicron cases were reported in Delhi. After the addition, the Omicron toll in the national capital reached.

On the other hand, the southern state of Puducherry announced the extension of lockdown in view of the coronavirus situation till January 2, 2022.

Meanwhile, WHO South-East Asia Regional Director, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said that Omicron appears to be spreading faster than any other previous variant and added that one should not dismiss it as "mild".

About the effect of COVID vaccines on the variant, the health expert said that preliminary data suggest that "vaccines may have reduced effectiveness against Omicron".