A 37-year-old man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania is currently admitted at the Lok Nayak Hospital and has mild symptoms, officials said.
Till now, 17 people (who came from abroad) have tested positive for COVID-19 and they have been admitted to the hospital,” said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
New Delhi: A Tanzania returnee who arrived in Delhi has tested positive for Omicron, making it first case of the new COVID-19 variant in the national capital.
“First omicron case has been detected in Delhi. The 37-year-old patient admitted to the Lok Nayak Hospital had returned from Tanzania. Till now, 17 people (who came from abroad) have tested positive for COVID 19 and they have been admitted to the hospital,” ANI quoted Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain as saying.
This is the fifth case of Omicron in the country. The first two cases were reported in Karnataka. On Saturday, the third and the fourth cases of the infection were reported from Gujarat’s Jamnagar and Maharashtra’s Dombivli, respectively.
“Twelve samples had been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control. One was found carrying the Omicron variant. The patient is an Indian and had returned from Tanzania a few days ago,” an official told the Press Trust of India.
“The patient’s travel history is being collated and contacts being traced,” he said.
Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop international flights in the view of Omicron variant. A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on 25 November.
As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November this year. On 26 November, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as ‘Omicron’.
The WHO has classified Omicron as a ‘variant of concern’. Dozens of countries have imposed travel restrictions on the southern African nations since the mutation was discovered. The new Omicron coronavirus variant has been confirmed in 23 countries and their number is expected to rise, Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said.
India has also added several countries to the list from where travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in the country, including post-arrival testing for infection.
With inputs from agencies
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