A UK returnee who arrived in Kerala has tested positive for Omicron, making it the first case of the new variant in the state.
The concerned person had returned from the UK on December 6 after making a stopover in Abu Dhabi. He had tested positive on December 8.
“An Omicron case has been reported in Kerala. A UK returnee from Ernakulam is the one who tested positive. He arrived via Abu Dhabi. He tested negative in the initial test and positive in a test done on December 8. All 149 passengers including the high-risk passengers who were near him on the flight have been informed,” Health Minister Veena George said.
She further added that the patient’s condition is stable and there is no need to worry.
“His wife and mother tested positive. They have been isolated. All steps have been taken as per central government guidelines. All contacts have been identified. We are treading very carefully and there is no cause for concern,” George added.
The report comes at a time when the state is heaving a sigh of relief after the massive number of Covid-19 positive cases went down.
India’s Omicron tally has risen to 38 with the addition of Kerala. Hundreds of Covid-19 positive samples are also being genome tested across labs in India.
Andhra Pradesh detected its first Omicron case on Sunday. The variant was detected in a 34-year-old traveller from Ireland.
So far, 15 foreign travellers who came to the state were found Covid-19 positive and all the samples were sent to CCMB for genome sequencing.
Chandigarh confirmed its first case late on Saturday night. The variant was detected in a 20-year-old who came from Italy on November 22. His seven high-risk family contacts were put under quarantine and were tested for Covid-19 by the RT-PCR method. All of them tested negative, an official statement said.
In Karnataka, a third Omicron case was detected in a 34-year-old South Africa returnee on Sunday, while a 40-year-old man tested positive after returning to Nagpur in Maharashtra from a West African country, taking the state’s tally of Omicron cases to 18.
Till now, Omicron has been detected in Maharashtra (18), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Karnataka (3) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and in Union Territories of Delhi (2) and Chandigarh (1).
