The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday, December 23, reported 33 new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Out of the new cases, 26 were reported in Chennai. This takes the total tally to 34. The announcement was made by Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian. Authorities said that the contacts of the people were being traced and the gene sequencing results of some more people were awaited. J Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare urged the people to follow COVID-19 safety protocol and said that there was no need to panic. Officials also urged people to get both doses of the vaccine at the earliest. Further details are awaited.