India’s Omicron cases climbed to 143 after 30 new infections related to the new variant were reported from Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala, according to local officials on Saturday.The country on Friday logged the highest single-day rise of 26 cases of the new Omicron variant, even as the Centre advised people to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings and keep New Year celebrations low key.In Maharashtra, the state health department said eight more cases of Omicron were detected, which have taken the state’s tally to 48. Four Omicron cases were reported from Mumbai, three from Satara and one case from Pune, the health department said.In Mumbai, three patients were residents of Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Jalgaon in Maharashtra, while one was a resident of the city.A Telangana health department bulletin said the number of Omicron cases in the state rose to 20 as 12 more people tested positive for the new coronavirus variant.It said of the 12 new cases, two were passengers from countries declared “at risk” by the Centre and 10 others came from other nations. Samples of three people are awaited for their Omicron variant status.Karnataka reported six new Omicron cases—five of them were found in educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada and one came back from the United Kingdom—taking the number of such infections in the southern state to 14.”Two cluster outbreaks of COVID have been reported from two educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada today: Cluster 1: 14 cases (of which 4 are Omicron). Cluster 2: 19 cases (1 is Omicron). A traveller from UK has also tested positive for Omicron,” Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar said in a tweet.
