Andhra Pradesh reports first case of Omicron strain

Andhra Pradesh on Sunday reported its first situation of Omicron, the brand new variant of coronavirus.

A 34-year-old man, who came back from Ireland late recently, tested positive for that new variant, medical officials stated.

The person from Vijayanagaram district had arrived at Visakhapatnam via Mumbai on November 27. He’d tested negative for that coronavirus within an RT-PCR test conducted in the Mumbai airport terminal.

However, following the mandatory 14-day home quarantine in Vijayanagaram, he was exposed to a different RT-PCR test which switched to stay positive.

The person, who had been asymptomatic, was stored in isolation and sent his samples to Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for genome sequencing. The genome sequencing report received on Sunday revealed that he’s infected by Omicron.

Using the first situation in Andhra Pradesh, India’s Omicron tally went as much as 34. Maharashtra has reported the greatest number of instances at 17. Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka also have reported installments of the brand new variant.

Director of public health insurance and family welfare, Andhra Pradesh, Dr G. Hymavathi stated as many as 15 foreign returnees tested positive for Covid-19.

Samples of all of the 15 were sent for genome sequencing. She stated genome sequencing reports of 10 of these have been received and one of these tested positive for Omicron.

The director of public health advised people to not panic and have confidence in any rumours. She stated people should still take all Covid-19 safeguards like putting on masks, frequent hands washing and looking after social distance.