- Saturday, April 27, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been detected in India, the country’s health ministry confirmed on Thursday (2). Two cases of the variant which has triggered a global alarm have been reported in the southern state of Karnataka and one of them is a foreigner, it was learnt.
Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary of the health ministry said in a news briefing that the patients – both men – are aged 66 and 46 and he said their identities were not disclosed to protect their privacy.
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Agarwal said all people who came in contact with the two men have been traced and are undergoing tests. He said both the cases are mild and no severe symptoms have been found so far.
“There is no need to panic about the Omicron detection but awareness is absolutely essential. Follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, avoid gatherings,” Agarwal said.
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Speculation is rife that the heavily-mutated Omicron may be markedly more contagious than the previous variants but there is yet no evidence that the strain may be deadlier.
“There will be no drastic curbs any time soon. The situation is well under control,” VK Paul, chief of the Indian government’s Covid-19 task force, said.
India was set to resume scheduled commercial international flights on December 15 but deferred the plan on Wednesday (1) and said a resumption date would be announced later.
The government has also asked the states to ramp up testing, a week after the health ministry said a recent fall in testing could hamper India’s efforts to contain the outbreak.
India on Thursday reported 9,765 new cases, taking its total cases to 34.61 million. Only the United States has reported more cases.
