More cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus are likely to come to the fore in January next year in Maharashtra, a senior public health department official said on Wednesday.
"The Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading fast in the world and Maharashtra is likely to see a surge in cases infected by it in January next year. The cases of Omicron infection will be found in rural areas as well as in cities," Maharashtra public health department's additional chief secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas said while making a presentation in the Maharashtra cabinet meeting in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has instructed officials to take extra efforts to complete the administration of the second dose of anti-COVID-19 vaccines to all eligible people.
The World Health Organisation, which had classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern', recently said that Omicron is spreading at a rate not seen with any previous strain.
The tally of patients found infected with the Omicron variant in Maharashtra has risen to 32 with the four more such cases being detected, the state health department said on Wednesday.
Maximum Omicron cases have been reported from Mumbai with a total of 13 infections. Followed by 10 in Pimpri Chinchwad, two each in Pune Municipal Corporation, Osmanabad and one each in Kalyan Dombivali, Nagpur, Latur, Vasai Virar and Buldhana.
Of these, 25 cases have been discharged after a negative RT PCR test, the Maharashtra health department said.
