The Union Health Ministry informed on Friday that India has over 100 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
The ministry's joint secretary, Lav Agrawal told media persons on Friday that at present there are 101 cases with Maharashtra leading the tally with 32 followed by Delhi with 22.
Omicron has been confirmed in 11 Indian states and union territories so far.
Kerala has seven cases of Omicron, with six in Kochi and one in Thiruvananthapuram. Two of those cases were primary contacts of the first Omicron patient in the state, who had returned from the United Kingdom earlier this month.
"With Omicron spreading fast, we need to avoid nonessential travel, mass gatherings and new year celebrations need to be at low intensity," said Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR.
Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said that genome sequencing of every sample was not possible. "It is a surveillance and pandemic assessment & tracking tool, not a diagnostic tool as of now. We can assure sufficient systematic sampling is being undertaken," he said.
