Five more Omicron cases detected in Bengal: Official

At least five more persons in West Bengal tested positive for Omicron on Wednesday, taking the total number of patients infected by the new variant of coronavirus in the state to 11, a senior health department official said.

Of the five, one person is a returnee from abroad while the rest have no foreign travel history, he said, expressing concern that the new virus variant was fast spreading among the people of the state.

"Yesterday night, we received genome sequencing reports of 107 cases and five among them were found to be Omicron-positive. One of the five patients has foreign travel history but the other four locals don't."

"The contact-tracking cell is currently collecting information for necessary containment measures, as per protocol," the official said.

Two of the four locals are from Kolkata and one each from Dumdum and Howrah, he added.