New Delhi: Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday that the transmissibility of the Omicron variant is more but the symptoms are mild and no deaths have been reported yet.
In a pre-recorded message, he said, “The Omicron variant of novel coronavirus has a higher transmissibility rate but its symptoms are mild. No one in South Africa, infected with the Omicron variant, has been put on oxygen. It has not increased the fatality rate so far,” reported PTI.
Tope’s statement came after a 33-year-old man was tested positive for Omicron on Saturday, confirming the first case in the state. The 33-year-old patient was from the Kalyan-Dombivli municipal area and had returned from South Africa via Dubai.
Tope addressed the people of Maharashtra and said they need not panic as more data is awaited from the World Health Organization. “The WHO is carrying out a detailed study of this variant and it will update us from time to time. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will issue revised guidelines as more information is available about the variant,” he said.
The Omicron variant was first found in Africa on November 25 and was declared the variant of concern by the WHO. Till now 38 countries have confirmed Omicron cases, including India. There were four Omicron cases confirmed in India till Saturday.
The first two cases were confirmed in Karnataka, and the other two were confirmed in Mumbai and Gujarat on Saturday. One of the first two patients was a fully vaccinated 66-year-old, and the other a 46-year-old doctor with no travel history.