Second case of Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been reported in the national capital, while the Mumbai Police has clamped prohibitory orders under Sec 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) banning the assembly of five or more, protests, marches or rallies by people or vehicles till Sunday night.
The orders, which came into effect from midnight (Friday-Saturday), were issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) of Mumbai, and shall be in force till midnight (Sunday-Monday).
"The order has been issued to prevent danger to human life from Omicron, new variant of Covid-19, as well as a threat to the law and order situation against the backdrop of the violence that took place in Amravati, Malegaon (Nashik) and Nanded," said the notification.
Violators shall attract action under Indian Penal Code Sec. 188 and other legal provisions, it added.
The prohibitory orders are likely to restrict the movement of the "Tiranga Rally" with over 300 buses and other vehicles starting from different parts of the state to Mumbai, organised on Saturday by the All India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Led by AIMIM MP Syed Imtiaz Jaleel, the vehicle rally to Mumbai will press for the pending demands of the Muslim community including reservations and other issues, with participants likely to reach here from Pune, Nashik, Beed, Jalna, Nanded, Wardha, Parbhani, Latur, Osmanabad and other places.
However, the Mumbai Police has made it clear it will not permit the rally inside the Country's financial capital in view of the restrictions imposed here and the Omicron concerns.
With seven new patients detected on Friday, the number of Omicron cases has shot up to 17 in Maharashtra, or nearly half the known cases in the country.
Of these seven, three were found positive in Mumbai, all males, aged 25, 37 and 48, with a recent travel history to the United Kingdom, South Africa and Tanzania.
The four new patients, including a three-and-half-year-old child, in Pune, are the close contacts of the Indian-origin Nigerian woman who was detected Omicron positive last Sunday.
Delhi on alert
As per Delhi government sources, the person -- fully vaccinated, came from Zimbabwe and had travelled to South Africa.
The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on November 24, 2021.
The first patient to have tested positive for Omicron in Delhi is a resident of Ranchi and had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2. The person also stayed in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a week.
The patient was isolated at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Narayan Hospital. With the fresh case, India has so far reported 33 cases of the new variant that has sparked worries worldwide.
On Friday, Delhi recorded 41 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the total case tally in the national capital to 14,41,610. The positivity rate stands at 0.07 per cent, according to the data shared by the city health department.
Till December 10, a total of 2,38,58,032 people have been vaccinated in Delhi.
(With inputs from IANS)
