New Delhi: India reports its fifth case of the Omicron variant from Delhi. This is the first Omicron positive case in Delhi.
"First omicron case detected in Delhi. The patient admitted to the LNJP Hospital had returned from Tanzania. Till now, 17 people (who come from abroad) have tested positive for Covid and they have been admitted to the hospital," Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain told reporters on Sunday.
12 suspected patients were waiting for the genome sequencing results after they tested positive for Covid-19.
Samples of 12 out of 17 patients were sent for genome sequencing who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania. "Samples of 12 out of 17 positive passengers were sent for genome sequencing and one of them, who arrived from Tanzania, tested Omicron positive according to preliminary reports," said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
India has now five confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 which was detected on November 25 in South Africa. The first two cases were confirmed in Karnataka, and the other two from Mumbai and Gujarat on Saturday.
The contacts of these cases are being traced and tested. The first Omicron case in India was a 66-year-old fully vaccinated male, who had traveled to South Africa. The second was a 46-year-old doctor with no travel history.
Though the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, its symptoms are being told as mild. Till now, no deaths have been reported by the new Omicron variant.