3-year-old among 7 new cases of Omicron COVID variant in Maharashtra

This has taken India's total tally of Omicron cases to 32. It comes on a day when the government warned about letting loose the COVID-19 guards like wearing masks.

"Overall 25 Omicron cases have been detected in the country so far. All cases have mild symptoms. Omicron cases account for less than 0.04 per cent of total variants detected," Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary at the Union Health Ministry said at a media briefing in the afternoon.

Later in the evening, seven more cases were confirmed in Maharashtra by the state government.

Three of them are from Mumbai and one patient is a three-year-old.

Since Dec 1, 93 international passengers have tested positive for COVID-19. Of them, 83 are from countries that have been designated "at-risk" following the Omicron breakout and 13 from other countries, Lav Agarwal said.

He added that 59 countries have reported Omicron cases so far.

"Two countries had reported Omicron cases till November 24th. Now, 59 countries have reported cases of Omicron. These 59 countries have reported 2,936 Omicron cases. Besides this, 78,054 probable cases have also been detected - their genome sequencing is underway," Agarwal said.

The government also issued a warning about declining mask usage and safety norms.

"WHO is warning against the decline in mask usage. Global scene of Omicron is disturbing... We are now operating at a risky and unacceptable level. We have to remember that both vaccines and masks are important," Dr VK Paul, the NITI Aayog member for Health said.

The government has informed that the treatment protocol for the Omicron variant remained the same and added that there was no immediate plan to initiate vaccine boosters.

Although Omicron was not yet a burden on the healthcare system, a strict vigil had to be maintained, the Centre said.