The cases of the new Covid-19 variant 'Omicron' have been soaring in Tamil Nadu as the state government has been gearing up the measures and tightening the restrictions to curb the rapid spread. Omicron was first reported on November 24 and within the month of reporting the first case in the globe that was detected in South Africa, the variant had a swift movement across the globe as dozens of countries have reported thousands of fresh cases, stirring a deserted holiday season. 

India has reported its first Omicron case on December 2 and the country has recorded over 230 cases so far as of Wednesday- December 22. Shockingly, Tamil Nadu has accounted for 10% of the country's total tally as the state has reported 33 fresh cases with the Omicron variant on Wednesday and the government has said that the cases would go high as hundreds of people have shown positive symptoms for the variant. 

While addressing the reporters on Thursday - December 23, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said that the state has reported 33 new cases of the Omicron variant and the state has recorded 34 cases so far. The rise of the cases has been attributed to the influx of people from various countries. As per the date, of these 34 cases, 30 cases have returned to Chennai from other countries, three cases belong to Tamil Nadu with no travel history, while the rest one the person who returned to Chennai from Kerala.

Chennai has been reporting a surge in the Omicron cases and of the total 34 cases, Chennai has recorded 27 cases while four cases were from Madurai, two cases from Thiruvannamalai, and one case from Salem. As the cases have been soaring in the state, the Tamil Nadu government is enhancing the measures to contain the spread. Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu will be holding a high-level review meeting with the District Collectors on Thursday - December 23 at 12 pm. 

During the virtual meeting, the Chief Secretary will be discussing the Omicron situation in the districts and will issue directions to the Collectors on the containment measures to be taken during the festival seasons of Christmas, New Year, and Pongal. As the government has already banned large scale festival celebrations and closed the beaches, the discussion would include the implementation of the ban and strengthening the Covid-19 protocols and the vaccination drive. India has so far reported 236 Omicron cases as of Wednesday of which 104 have been recovered and discharged from the hospital.