Omicron alarm: Lockdown-like restrictions in Maharashtra? Thackeray to chair meeting with Covid-19 Task Force

Mumbai, Dec 06: Amid the threat of the Omicron Covid variant in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will chair a meeting of the state's Covid-19 Task Force on Monday to take a decision on additional restrictions, according to News18 reports.

Speaking to reporters, state minister Aaditya Thackeray said that they will assess the situation for a day or two regarding the imposition of more curbs.

"The number of patients of the Omicron variant is increasing. We are testing in large numbers not just at airports, entry points, but within cities. Every week, corporate offices should do RT-PCR tests," News 18 quoted the minister as saying.

Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray had suggested all the divisional commissioners and district collectors to impose extreme measures if the Covid-19 restrictions aren't implemented and followed in the state.

Concern over new clusters comes as the number of Omicron Covid cases in India increase.

The number of cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 rose to eight in Maharashtra as seven more persons from Pune district have tested positive.

The new cases include a woman who had returned from Nigeria along with two daughters to meet her brother in Pimpri Chinchwad, news agency PTI quoted an official from the health department as saying.

The woman's brother and this two daughers have also tested positive for the Omicron variant, the official added.

Another case is that of a man from Pune who had returned from Finland in the last week of November.

On Saturday, the state detected its first case of Omicron variant as a man from Kalyan Dombivli municipal area near Mumbai who had arrived from South Africa tested positive.

Cases of Omicron variant were earlier detected in Karnataka and Gujarat.