Kochi: The number of Omicron cases in Kerala is closing in on 300-mark after 50 new cases were reported on Thursday.

Only five of the new cases were among returnees from high-risk countries while 45 came from nations marked as low-risk.

To date, 280 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported in Kerala, of which 186 were from low-risk countries while 64 came from high-risk nations and 30 were contact cases.

Ernakulam continues to be worst affected with a majority of the new cases (18) recorded among returnees to the district.

At least 13 of the new cases in Ernakulam were those who arrived from the UAE while four others came from Qatar and one from Sweden.

Thiruvananthapuram (8), Pathanamthitta (7), Kottayam and Malappuram, (5), Kollam (3) and Alappuzha, Thrissur and Palakkad (1 each) are the district-wise split of the latest confirmation of Omicron variant.

With this, Kerala has the third most number of Omicron cases in the country after Delhi and Maharashtra.