Maharashtra: 10 including 8 cops test COVID+ before winter session of State Assembly

Amid rising COVID-19 scare with Omicron cases countrywide, on December 22 Maharashtra Health Department stated 10 persons including 8 police personnel have been found SARS-CoV-2 positive in RT-PCR testing done before the start of the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Assembly. Nearly 3,500 samples were tested, the department further stated. 

On Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded 11 new infections of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the tally of such cases in the state to 65, the health department said in Mumbai.

“As reported by the National Institute of Virology, 11 more patients have been found to be infected by Omicron," it said.

Eight of the new cases came to light following the screening at the Mumbai airport while one case each was found in Navi Mumbai, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Osmanabad, said the official release.

COVID-19 in Mumbai

On December 22, Mumbai reported 327 new coronavirus cases, a jump of more than 100 from a day ago, and one fresh death due to the infection, a civic official said. With these additions, the overall tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 7,67,658, while the death toll rose to 16,366, he said.

The BMC official said 37,973 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative number in the city to 1,32,46,703.

The city now has 2,159 active coronavirus cases after 227 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day following recovery. The cumulative number of recovered patients stood at 7,46,555. Mumbai's coronavirus recovery rate is 97%.

The overall growth rate of the COVID-19 infection stood at 0.03 per cent between December 14 and December 20, while the case doubling rate was 2,050 days, he said.

The official said presently Mumbai has 16 sealed buildings (where more than five residents have tested coronavirus positive in each of them), but no containment zones in slums and 'chawls' (old row tenements) since the past few months.

This year, Mumbai reported the highest cases at 11,163 on April 4 and most deaths at 90 on May 1 during the second wave of the pandemic. 

(WITH ANI/PTI INPUTS)