Omicron spreads its tentacles in Telangana, Hyderabad reports two cases

New Delhi: Telangana on Wednesday (December 15, 2021) became the latest victim of the Omicron as Hyderabad reported two cases of the new COVID-19 variant.

As per the latest reports, a 24-year-old Kenyan woman and a 23-year-old Somalian man who arrived at the Hyderabad international airport on December 12 have tested positive. 

Earlier on Tuesday evening, eight new cases of the Omicron variant were reported in Maharashtra - seven of them in Mumbai - and none of the patients had a history of international travel.

With the fresh cases, which included three women, the tally of those infected with the newly discovered variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, rose to 28 in the state, the health department said in a bulletin.

All of them - five men and three women - are in the age group of 24 to 41, the department said. It said of the eight, three are asymptomatic, while five have mild symptoms of the viral infection.

Besides Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Gujarat have also reported cases of the new variant.

The emergence of Omicron, classified as a 'variant of concern' by the World Health Organization (WHO), has caused alarm among scientists and governments across the world.

Meanwhile, the WHO has warned that Omicron is spreading at a rate that the world has not seen with any previous COVID-19 variant. 

During a media briefing on COVID-19, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 77 countries have now reported cases of Omicron. 

"The reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," he said.

Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant. I need to be very clear: vaccines alone will not get any country out of this crisis.
It’s not vaccines instead of masks, distancing, ventilation or hand hygiene.
Do it all. Do it consistently. Do it well. pic.twitter.com/YAVfJXsviQ — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 14, 2021

The WHO chief also raised concern over vaccine inequity and said that there remains a 'vast gap' in rates of vaccination between countries.

He informed that 41 countries have still not been able to vaccinate 10% of their populations, and 98 countries have not reached 40%.

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