A Gujarat man who returned from Zimbabwe to Jamnagar has been found to be infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, news agency PTI reported on Saturday, 4 December, quoting the Gujarat health department.
According to PTI, the sample of the 72-year-old Jamnagar resident was sent for genome sequencing to Pune after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. The report further said that Gujarat health commissioner Jai Prakash Shivhare has confirmed that the man was found infected with the new variant.
On Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said that two cases of Omicron variant had been reported in India. Both cases had been found in Karnataka, in fully vaccinated males aged 46 and 66 years.
Meanwhile, nine members of a family in Jaipur have tested positive for COVID-19, days after four of them returned from South Africa, PTI reported. In Delhi, over 12 patients, suspected to be infected by the COVID variant, have been admitted at Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital.
Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing and the results are awaited.
The Union Health Ministry's Joint Secretary has said that all Omicron-related cases are found to have mild symptoms so far.
"In all such cases in the country and across the world so far, no severe symptom has been noted. WHO has said that its emerging evidence is being studied," Lav Agarwal added.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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