Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 85 fresh cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the highest single-day tally recorded so far by any state in the country, taking the overall count to 252, the state health department said.

"Today, 85 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in the state. Of these, 47 patients have been reported by the National Institute of Virology (NIV - (where samples were sent for genome sequencing) and 38 by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)," a health bulletin said.