Eight more Omicron cases found in Goa; tally now 19

Goa on Wednesday reported eight new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus and five of the patients have no recent travel history, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said.

With this, the number of Omicron cases in the coastal state has gone up to 19.

Rane tweeted, “8 Genome sequence reports tested positive as confirmed by NIV Pune, bringing the (Omicron) count to 19. 3- travel history from UK, 5- no travel history. These 5 from Goa, i.e. Margao, Bardez, Chicalim, and Canacona.” The first case of Omicron was detected in Goa on December 28, 2021, when an eight-year-old boy from the UK had tested positive for the highly contagious strain of SARS-CoV-2 discovered in South Africa late last year.