New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The total cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 mounted to 49 in India after 8 new cases of the new variant have been reported from Delhi and Rajasthan on Tuesday. The new Omicron variant has sparked worries across the globe with over 60 countries including the US, the UK, Israel, South Africa and others reporting Omicron cases. The WHO, meanwhile, has categorised the Omicron as a variant of concern due to its high transmissibility as compared to the Delta variant.

With the new cases, the total tally of Omicron cases in the national capital rose to 6. The six patients have been detected at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital, which has been dedicated to the treatment of Omicron patients. Of the six, a 37-year-old from Ranchi, who was the first Omicron patient in Delhi, has been discharged, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said, adding that the remaining five are all stable with mild symptoms.

"So far, six people have been found Omicron positive in the capital. One of them has been discharged. All of them had travelled to foreign countries and were transferred to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital from the (Indira Gandhi International) airport," Jain said.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan also reported four new cases of Omicron on Tuesday, however, all the other patients of the new variant in the state have been discharged after testing negative for COVID-19, informed Rajasthan Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena.

With the detection of new Omicron cases, the total tally of the new variant in Rajasthan rose to 13. "Four more cases have been reported, the health condition of these patients is stable. All previous Omicron cases in the State have tested COVID negative now", Meena said.

Of the four, three had come in contact with an infected family which returned from South Africa. Rajasthan Health officials confirmed that a woman who came from Ukraine via Dubai has also tested positive. In all, 27 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the state on Monday. While eight cases were registered in Hanumangarh, seven cases each were reported in Jaipur and Bikaner, two each in Ganganagar and Udaipur and one in Churu.

Check state-wise list of Omicron Cases in India:

Maharashtra: 20

Rajasthan: 13

Delhi: 6

Gujarat: 4

Karnataka: 3

Kerala: 1

Andhra Pradesh: 1

Chandigarh: 1

A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year. On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. The WHO has classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern'.