Four more tested positive for Omicron variant of COVID-19, taking the total tally of the new variant to eight in Odisha.
Of the four Omicron-infected persons, three had returned from Nigeria and one came from Saudi Arabia. Two of them hail from Jagatsinghpur district while one is from Ganjam district.
As per official records, 9,000 people had returned from other countries since the last week of November. About 3,700 of them had undergone RT-PCR tests out of which 18 tested positive.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has imposed restrictions on New Year revelry from December 31 to January 2.
“Gatherings at hotels, clubs, restaurants, parks and convention halls are completely banned. Zero night celebration and no celebration other than marriage is allowed across the State,” says a government notification.
“There will be strict vigilance on gathering from December 31 to January 2. No community feast is allowed and no social gathering, rallies, orchestras and other cultural programmes are permitted,” the government said. Police Commissioners of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and district police chiefs have been instructed to take strict action against violators.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 situation in the State appears to be under control. A total of 112 positive cases were reported on Sunday and there are 1,594 active cases in the State while two districts – Koraput and Kandhamal – did not have a single active case. Similarly, one person was reported to have died of COVID-19 on Sunday.
