Tamil Nadu records sharp rise in fresh cases of Omicron; tally at 120

Tamil Nadu on Friday reported a surge in new cases of Omicron with 76 cases being infected with the new variant of the coronavirus. With this, the total infected was 120 thereby breaching the triple digit-mark in the State, the Health Department said.

Till Thursday, the total cases stood at 46.

According to a bulletin, the department received 115 results of the 117 samples which were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, after they were detected with ‘S’ gene drop variant.

‘S’ gene drop detection in a sample is believed that the person might be infected with Omicron.

The bulletin said, “Of the 115 results received, 74 have been identified as Omicron variant and 41 as Delta variant.” Results of the two samples were yet to be received, it said.

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“With the existing 46 infections already declared, the addition of the 74 cases identified in the present set through whole genomic sequencing, the total Omicron cases is 120,” the bulletin said.

While the new infections recorded a rise, the recoveries also grew with 66 people getting discharged from hospitals.

As on date, the Omicron cases under treatment was 52, the bulletin said.

Chennai topped the list of districts with Omicron with 95 cases followed by Chengalpet five, Madurai four, Thiruvallur three. Places like Salem, Thiruvarur, Coimbatore, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Ranipet, reported one case each, the bulletin said.