Omicron India: With 33 New Omicron Cases Reported In Tamil Nadu, State's Total Tally Rises To 34

Tamil Nadu has reported 33 new cases of omicron Coronavirus variant, taking the total tally of the omicron cases in the state to 34, according to the state Health Minister Ma Subramanian.

Over 26 cases of Omicron were reported in Chennai, Salem reported 1 case, Madurai reported 4 cases and Tiruvanamalai reported 2 cases, reports Indian Express.

The Omicron Covid variant, which has been declared a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO), was first detected in South Africa last month and since then has spread to over 80 countries including India.

India had reported 236 cases of the new Covid strain till yesterday. However, after 33 new cases in Tamil Nadu, the Omicron tally in India has risen to 269.

As many as 104 people who arrived in Tamil Nadu from various countries have tested Covid-19 positive till date, of whom 82 were detected with the ‘S gene drop’ variant of coronavirus, state Health Minister Subramanian said on Thursday (23 December).

The samples of 82 passengers have been sent to the Bengaluru-based Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) for genomic sequencing analysis.