Representative image of a medic administering a swab test for COVID-19 in Kerala, July 2021. Photo: PTI
New Delhi:With seven new cases of the omicron variant detected in Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, the total number of such cases in India has climbed to 32. Maharashtra alone accounts for 17 of these cases, the most in the country.
According to the Maharashtra health department, the state recorded 695 new COVID-19 cases and 12 fatalities since Thursday evening.
The overall tally of coronavirus cases in the state rose to 66,42,372, and the death toll to 1,41,223. On Thursday, Maharashtra had recorded 789 new COVID-19 cases and seven fatalities. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 2.12%.
An official release from the state government said that as per the latest report from the National Institute of Virology, seven new omicron cases were reported in Maharashtra – three in Mumbai and four in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in Pune district.
The three new patients from Mumbai are all male, aged 48, 25 and 37 years with a recent history of travel to Tanzania, the UK and South Africa-Nairobi, respectively, the statement said.
Four new patients from PCMC limits are contacts of a Nigerian woman who was earlier confirmed to have an infection of the omicron variant.
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Of the seven new patients with omicron-variant infection, four have been fully vaccinated and one has received a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
One adult patient has not been vaccinated, while another is a three-and-half-year-old child and thus not eligible for inoculation. Four of the new patients are asymptomatic while three have only mild symptoms, the official release said.
Meanwhile, 11 districts and five civic bodies in Maharashtra did not report any new COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours.
The Mumbai division, which comprises the city and satellite townships, reported 327 cases and five deaths. The Pune division reported 214 new cases, Nashik division 68, Kolhapur 16, Akola four, Nagpur 10, Latur 33 and the Aurangabad division 23 new cases.
Nagpur and Aurangabad divisions did not report any fatality during the day.
As many as 631 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the tally of recoveries to 64,90,936 in the state. The recovery rate in the state is 97.72%. As many as 6,66,39,988 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far in the state, including 1,22,665 in the last 24 hours. Currently, 75,290 people are in home quarantine and 870 are in institutional quarantine.
Maharashtra’s COVID-19 figures are as follows: cumulative cases 66,42,372, new cases 695, cumulative death toll 1,41,223, active cases 6,534, and total tests 6,66,39,988.
(With PTI inputs)