Omicron cases in Tamil Nadu on Friday increased to 120 from 46 on Thursday. Of this, 66 persons have been discharged and 52 are under admission. Two Omicron cases cross notified to Kerala and Puducherry.
Of the total cases, Omicron related to international travellers were 57, and Omicron cases not linked to international travellers were 63.
The State Health department says that the numbers may vary from Thursday’s bulletin due to Contact tracing & Reconciliation.
Out of the latest batch of 117 Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) samples sent earlier in the week, 115 results have been received and balance 2 are pending validation. Of this, 74 have been identified as Omicron variant and 41 as Delta variant. Along with the 46 Omicron cases reported on Thursday with the addition of the 74 cases identified today , the total number of Omicron cases in Tamil Nadu is 120, the bulletin said.
State health minister M Subramanian told newspersons that the Omicron and the Delta variant together are spreading at a fast pace, and urged people to be vigil and take all precautionary measures. Getting vaccinated is the most important step to prevent the spread of the virus. The 52 Omicron positive persons under admission are healthy, he said.
Coronavirus cases
Meanwhile, Coronavirus cases in the State spiked to 1,155 from 890 on Thursday. After 603 persons were discharged, the number of active cases was 7,470. There were 11 deaths registered and 1.04 lakh samples tested.
On Friday, Chennai reported 589 new cases as against 397 on Thursday.
A total of 1,23,261 persons were vaccinated to a total of 8,11,21,160.
Meanwhile, due to an increase in the number of cases, Chief Minister Stalin has announced fresh restrictions till January 10. Existing restrictions on public gathering to continue. No permission for play schools and Kindergarten, and there will not be physical classes for standards 1 to 8.
For classes 9 to 12, the classes can be held in schools by adhering to strict compliance of SoPs.
In weddings, only 100 people would be allowed to participate while in all other functions, only 50 persons will be allowed.
Metro rail will be run with 50 per cent seat occupancy, the release said.