Two new Omicron cases confirmed in Andhra Pradesh, total moves to 4

Omicron cases in Andhra Pradesh: Even as the Andhra Pradesh Government has geared up its machinery to tackle the pandemic, two new cases of Omicron were confirmed on Friday.

A 41-year old traveller of East Godavari district came from Kuwait to Gannavaram on December 19. Sample collected at Vijayawada Airport tested RT-PCR positive for COVID-19 the next day. The sample was sent to Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for genome sequencing and the result found to be Omicron positive on December 22.

Director of Health Dr. G. Hymavathi said on Friday that a 33-year old from Visakhapatnam visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and returned on December 15. The passenger was admitted in a private hospital with fever the next day and later referred to CCMB for genome sequencing. It was found to be a case of Omicron positive on December 23, the Director said in a notification.

His condition was stated to be stable. He was put under quarantine under close observation of the Health Department.

The Director said so far a total of 53 international travellers and nine contacts were diagnosed COVID-19 RT-PCR positive and all the samples were sent to genome sequencing. "The public is advised not to worry and believe in rumours but continue to take precautions and follow social distancing by wearing a mask and washing hands regularly," the Director said.

The first case of Omicron was reported in Vizianagaram district two weeks ago. The patient was subsequently declared negative. She arrived from Kenya via Chennai. Six of her family members were tested negative immediately after confirmation of the international traveller.

India's Omicron tally has crossed 350 with several States imposing curbs to contain the spread of the highly contagious variant of COVID-19.