More cases of Omicron from Pune, Jaipur and Delhi; 21 detected so far

🔴While the 44-year-old has mild symptoms, the other five patients are asymptomatic. All the patients are being treated at Jijamata Hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad and are stable, Rajesh Patil, Municipal Commissioner of Pimpri-Chinchwad, told The Indian Express.

5 min readPuneUpdated: Dec 6, 2021 07:28 AM IST

More cases of Omicron from Pune, Jaipur and Delhi; 21 detected so far

The total number of Omicron positive patients in Maharashtra is now 8, Dr Pradeep Vyas, Additional Chief Secretary (health) Maharashtra said. (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)

Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi reported cases of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 21.

The first two cases were reported in Karnataka, followed by one in Jamnagar (Gujarat) and another in Maharashtra.

In Pune, six people from a family in the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal area — including a 44-year-old woman who landed in Maharashtra on November 24 from Lagos, Nigeria, with her two daughters, aged 12 and 18 — were detected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Her 45-year-old brother and two of his daughters, aged 7 and 18 months old, have also tested positive for the Omicron variant after a genome sequencing conducted at the National Institute of Virology, Pune. All the three infected adults in the family are fully vaccinated – two of them with Covishield and one with Covaxin.

Read | Seven new Omicron cases reported from Maharashtra

While the 44-year-old has mild symptoms, the other five patients are asymptomatic. All the patients are being treated at Jijamata Hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad and are stable, Rajesh Patil, Municipal Commissioner of Pimpri-Chinchwad, told The Indian Express.

The total number of Omicron positive patients in the state is now 8, Dr Pradeep Vyas, Additional Chief Secretary (health) Maharashtra, told The Indian Express.

“We traced 13 of the close contacts of the three international passengers, of whom three have been identified with Omicron,” said Dr Vyas.

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Besides six from the family, a 47-year-old from Pune also tested positive for the Omicron variant. He had visited Finland for six days between November 18 and 25, and was tested after he reported mild fever on November 29, according to Dr Sanjeev Wavare, assistant medical officer, Pune Municipal Corporation. After he was found to be Covid positive, a genome sequencing done at the National Chemical Laboratory confirmed the presence of Omicron. He was fully vaccinated with Covishield.

Read | Omicron variant reported in 9 people in Jaipur, all had attended wedding in city

State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said, “The WHO is studying this variant in detail and we are waiting for the ICMR protocol. We have appealed to citizens not to panic and adopt Covid-appropriate behaviour.”

Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh also made a similar appeal.

In Jaipur, nine persons who took part in a wedding on November 28 have tested positive for the Omicron variant, health officials said. Medical Education Secretary Vaibhav Galriya said that of the nine, four had arrived from South Africa a few days ago.

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At least 100 people had turned up for the November 28 wedding; health officials have so far collected samples of 34 people. “Of these, Omicron has been confirmed in nine cases through genome sequencing while 25 others tested negative for Covid,” said Galriya.

Read | As Omicron hits, sifting 1,400 samples, and more

While the four who flew in from South Africa are admitted at the Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS), the others are in home isolation. RUHS superintendent Dr Ajeet Singh said the four admitted there are “asymptomatic” and the five in home isolation too “are doing fine”.

The Delhi case is of a man in his 30s who came to the city on a flight from Tanzania and was admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital in Delhi after testing positive for Covid at the Indira Gandhi International Airport last week.

Also Read | Delhi reports first Omicron case as Tanzania-returnee tests positive, fifth in India

“His close contacts during the flight are also isolated at LNJP Hospital. There were 17 Covid patients who were sent from the airport to LNJP (since the new regulations for passengers from ‘at-risk countries’ were put in place). Their contacts – six so far – are also under observation at the hospital and are being tested,” said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

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According to officials, the patient who came from Tanzania was fully vaccinated. The 11 other patients who have tested positive for Covid but not the Omicron variant will not be discharged from the hospital. “They will remain under observation for some days for now. At present, none of them is critically ill,” the doctor said.

(With inputs from ENS, Jaipur, Mumbai and New Delhi)

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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