Of the 17 Omicron patients in Maharashtra, nine have been discharged from hospitals, as per the state health officials. Before leaving the hospital, these patients who were either asymptomatic or had mild disease had tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus Experts have cautioned against taking the Omicron variant being taken lightly because the number of ‘Omicron suspects’ have been steadily increasing.
A report stated that 40 more suspects are admitted in Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri, two more men were admitted to Bombay Hospital on Saturday, taking the number of suspects in the private hospital to four so far. The Mumbai civic body has anticipated a further increase in the number of infected travellers from high-risk or at-risk countries and has allowed Breach Candy Hospital to set up a separate Omicron ward.
Reportedly, the state government’s Omicron update said seven Omicron patients had been discharged till Saturday morning, but BMC officials in Mumbal said that two more patients were discharged from Seven Hills Hospital by evening, taking the total to nine. The other discharged patients included-four in Pimpri Chinchwad and one each from Pune and Kalyan Dombivli State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said that we don’t have more cases reported today as genetic sequencing takes time.
On December 10, Maharashtra reported seven new cases of the Omicron variant, including a three-and-half-year-old girl. Three new Omicron cases were found in the state capital Mumbai. As per the recent report from the National Institute of Virology, seven new Omicron cases were reported in the state, three from Mumbai and four from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, the official release said.
Dr Awate added that since December 1, samples of 133 travellers who tested positive for Covid-19 have been sent for genomic sequencing. Of these, 26 travellers were identified as Covid-19-positive right at the airport while 107 others were identified during field surveillance for travellers who had arrived from at-risk or high-risk countries between November 1 and 30. And results of 51 samples are still awaited, he further stated. In Mumbai, Seven Hills Hospital dean Dr B Adsul told TOI that there are 40 Omicron suspects kept in isolation, of the five Omicron patients with us, three have been discharged while two are still in the hospital. They will be tested once again on Monday when they complete 10 days of testing positive for the first time, he added.
