A total of six people, including three Nigerian nationals, have tested positive for the 'Omicron' variant of COVID-19 in Pimpri Chinchwad of Pune district, informed Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil on Monday.
"Around six people have been confirmed with Omicron variant of COVID-19 after we conducted genome sequencing. These are three Nigerian nationals who came from outside and the other three are the ones which came in their contact," said Patil.
"One of them have mild symptoms while the rest of them are stable," he added.
Meanwhile, both Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil and Mayor Usha Dhore assured citizens that the authorities will take care of the situation and there is no need to panic.
The administration is vigilant over this issue. We will soon issue guidelines to restrict large gatherings in the city. We appeal to citizens to strictly follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour," said Patil.
"Citizens should not panic. Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is on alert just like last year. We request citizens to follow COVID-19 norms," said Mayor Dhore.
Several cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in the country with Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi reporting new cases. On Monday two more Omicron cases were detected in Mumbai taking the tally of India to 23.
The first two cases of the Omicron variant were reported in the country in Karnataka, followed by one in Gujarat's Jamnagar and then another in Maharashtra's Dombivili.
The new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.
On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. The WHO has classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern'.
( With inputs from ANI )
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