Delhi reported its first case of new COVID-19 variant Omicron on Sunday, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain informed. The new variant was detected in a 37-year-old man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania. This is the fifth case of the Omicron variant in India.
The patient is currently admitted at the Lok Nayak Hospital and has mild symptoms.
In a statement, Satyendar Jain said, "First omicron case detected in Delhi. The patient admitted to LNJP Hospital had returned from Tanzania. Till now, 17 people who tested positive for Covid have been admitted to the hospital."
"Twelve samples had been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control. One was found carrying the Omicron variant. The patient is an Indian and had returned from Tanzania a few days ago," an official told PTI.
"The patient's travel history is being collated and contacts being traced," he said.
The country reported the first two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Thursday in Karnataka -- a 66-year-old South African flyer and a 46-year-old Bengaluru doctor with no travel history. Both men are fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, a 72-year-old NRI man from Gujarat and a 33-year-old man from Maharashtra tested positive for the new strain.
All Covid-positive international travellers are being admitted to the LNJP Hospital, where a dedicated ward has been set up for isolating and treating them.
According to the Centre, the countries designated as "at-risk" are European countries, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
Under the new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from the "at-risk" countries and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come.
Also, two per cent of the passengers arriving on flights from other countries will be subjected to the test randomly.
(with PTI inputs)
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