Hyderabad: Colony In Tolichowki Becomes Containment Zone As A Resident Tests Positive For Omicron

The municipal staff established a containment zone in Hyderabad's Paramount colony after a resident who arrived from Kenya tested positive for Omicron

Hyderabad: In view of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, the authorities have established a containment zone in the Paramount colony located in Hyderabad's Tolichowki. This comes a day after a Tolichowki resident, who arrived in the city from Kenya on December 12, has tested positive for the deadly variant. 

A 23-year-old woman from Kenya and a 24-year-old Somalian man have tested positive for Covid-19 at the Hyderabad International Airport and were shifted to Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS), the government designated isolation facility for Omicron cases.

After arriving on December 12, they were allowed to return home because they were not from an 'at-risk' country, but after their samples were sent for genetic sequencing, the results that came on Wednesday confirmed them to be infected of Omicron.

Dr G Srinivasa Rao, Director of Public Health, said that both the persons' contacts were also sent for RT-PCR tests. The health workers conducted Covid tests for the residents of the two apartment buildings where the two foreigners resided.

During the last 24 hours, about 100 Covid tests were conducted in the locality. The results will most likely be released later in the day. 

According to officials, the samples of individuals who tested positive will be sent for genome sequencing. The GHMC staff began sanitising the area. People who were residing in the vicinity of the Omicron patients were advised to be isolated in their homes.

Containment zones are where the restrictions on movement and interaction are the most severe. Based on the severity of the cases, these are divided into Red Zone, Orange Zone and Green Zone. 

Areas with the highest number of positive cases and high virus infection rates are referred to as red zones. These are also known as hotspot zones. Areas with a low number of positive cases in the past and no recent spike in positive cases are called Orange zones. 

Green zones are areas with zero confirmed cases or no confirmed cases in the last 21 days. A buffer zone is an area around the containment zone where new cases are most likely to appear. 

(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)