Two foreign returnees test positive for Omicron in Bengal

KOLKATA: Two foreign returnees, who had tested Covid positive on Wednesday, were found to have been infected by the Omicron variant, a senior health official said.

One of them had returned from Nigeria and the other from the United Kingdom, he said.

"We have received genome sequencing results for three samples today (Thursday) and among them, two were positive for Omicron strain. The other was suffering from the Delta variant," he said.

The duo is undergoing treatment in the city, he added.

Omicron tally of Bengal has reached three so far. The first Omicron victim in the state — a 7-year-old boy who came to the city via Hyderabad from Abu Dhabi on December 11 — had, however, tested negative for Omicron within 48 hours from arrival.

Meanwhile, the state Health department on Wednesday issued directives saying that foreign returnees have to be mandatorily admitted to a government-designated hospital if they test positive for Covid on their arrival at the Kolkata airport. No Covid-infected foreign returnee will be allowed to go for home isolation.

As per the new directives, Covid positive patients who are Omicron suspects have to be kept in complete isolation at the hospitals away from the wards where patients with other Covid variants are undergoing treatment.

If anybody tests positive for Covid within 14 days after his/her return from any country, which is already demarcated as an 'at risk' country, the patient must be put under hospital isolation. Such patients have to be kept strictly in isolation till his/her genome sequencing report comes negative. With the Omicron variant slowly spreading its tentacles in the country, a number of states enhanced surveillance to trace, track and quarantine contacts of Covid positive persons while Delhi began genome sequencing of samples of all infected people and has prohibited Christmas and New Year gatherings.

Haryana also imposed some curbs in public places from January 1

India has so far recorded close to 250 cases of Omicron across 15 states and Union Territories even though at least 90 of the infected people have either recovered or migrated.

Amid fresh concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting on the COVID-19 situation in the country on Thurs-day. Official sources said Modi will take stock of the pandemic situation across the country.

India has recorded 213 cases of the Omicron variant across 15 states and UTs so far out of which 90 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The ministry data updated at 8 am also stated that India has logged 6,317 new Covid infections taking the total tally of cases to 3,47,58,481, while the active cases declined to 78,190, the lowest in 575 days. The death toll has climbed to 4,78,325 with 318 fresh fatalities, the data stated.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country reached nearly 140 crore on Wednesday, the Un-ion Health ministry said. More than 62 lakh (62,70,380) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on Wednesday.

With the national capital recording over 50 cases of Omicron, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will also hold a review meeting on Thursday to assess the preparedness and management of the new variant of the virus.

During the day, nine cases were recorded in Kerala, four in Rajasthan and two in Andhra Pradesh among others.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), on the other hand, directed District Magistrates to ensure no Christmas and New Year gathering takes place in the national capital.

However, restaurants and bars will continue to operate with up to 50 per cent of the seating capacity. Marriage-related gatherings are permitted with a maximum of 200 people in attendance.

The national capital logged 125 cases on Wednesday, the highest since June 22, when it had reported 134 cases of the infection.

In the wake of 19 Omicron cases being detected in the state, the Karnataka government has directed district authorities and health officials to enhance surveillance and designate contact tracers and quarantine observers to curb the spread. International travellers from high risk countries need to be quarantined for seven days from the date of their arrival, until the follow-up and repeat RT-PCR test on the eighth day, the government circular stated.

A day after Odisha reported its first Omicron case, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appealed to people to strictly follow the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour to defeat the new variant of Coronavirus.

Eligible people who are not fully vaccinated will not be permitted inside crowded places like malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets in Haryana from January 1, state Health Minister Anil Vij announced.

In Kerala, nine more cases of the Omicron variant were detected, taking the tally to 24, state Health minister Veena George said.

Andhra Pradesh reported its second positive case of Omicron after the samples of a 39-year-old woman who recently arrived from Kenya was detected to have carried it.

In a letter to states and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan advised implementing strategic interventions for containment like imposition of night curfew, strict regulation of large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals besides increasing testing and surveillance.