The new Covid-19 variant Omicron is making its move across Tamil Nadu as along with the Covid-19 spread, the spread of the variant has become a huge challenge for the state government. The state health department has said that Tamil Nadu has recorded eleven fresh cases of the Omicron variant on Tuesday - December 28, which had taken the state's total tally to 45 so far. 

Last week, Tamil Nadu has reported 33 Omicron cases in a day that put the tally to 34 and the state has now recorded eleven more cases. According to reports, of the eleven fresh cases, six have been getting treated at the King Institute in Guindy, Chennai. While four cases have come from the countries that are tagged as 'risk' of the Omicron spread, three people have come from the risk-free country and the rest four had contracted the variant after coming in close contact with the positive cases. 

Of the 11 cases, eight belong to Chennai and one each from Kanniyakumari, Tiruvannamalai, and Tiruvarur districts. In the total of 45 cases, 35 belong to Chennai, four belong to Madurai, three belong to Tiruvannamalai, and one each from Salem, Kanniyakumari, and Tiruvarur. As the cases have been soaring in Tamil Nadu, 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 653 cases so far as of Tuesday- December 28. 

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has held a high-level meeting with the officials and reviewed the situation of the Omicron spread. The government hasn't imposed any large-scale restrictions immediately and the Chief Minister has appealed to the people to adhere to the Covid-19 protocols and guidelines and receive vaccination against the pandemic.

The government had already banned festival celebrations and closed the beaches, as they would normally attract several people for the New Year celebrations. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 605 Covid-19 cases, 663 discharges, and nine deaths on Tuesday and overall, the state had recorded 27,44,642 cases so far as of Tuesday of which 6,562 are active, 27,01,336 have been discharged, and 36,744 had died of the viral infection. As per the data from the Union Health Ministry, of the total 653 Omicron cases, 186 people have been recovered from the disease.