Himachal, Madhya Pradesh report first Omicron cases

Mandi, Bhopal, December 26

Himachal and Madhya Pradesh reported their first Omicron cases on Sunday.

A woman from Khalyar in Himachal’s Mandi had arrived in India from Canada on December 3 and was home isolated for 14 days. She had tested positive for Covid-19 on December 12, an official said.

Woman’s swab samples sent for genome sequencing on December 18 showed the presence of Omicron variant, Director National Health Mission, Shimla, Hemraj Bairwa, said.

“However, her tests taken on December 24 came back negative,” Bairwa said.  

In Madhya Pradesh, eight cases of the Omicron variant were found in Indore, state Home Narottam Mishra said on Sunday.

This is the first time that the MP government has reported cases of the new virus variant in the state.

“Eight Omicron cases have been found in Indore. Out of these patients, six have recovered and have been discharged while two are undergoing treatment,” Mishra, who is the state government’s spokesman, told reporters.

He said around 3,000 people recently returned to Indore from abroad and 26 of them were found to be infected with the coronavirus.

“Omicron was confirmed in the genome sequencing of eight of these people,” he said.

The samples of these people, who returned to the state’s industrial hub Indore from different countries, were taken between December 17 and 21, according to officials.

These infected people included two men aged 20 and 30 years, who came from New York (US) on December 14 and 19 respectively, a 23-year-old woman who arrived from London (UK) on December 14, two women aged 33 and 26 who returned from Tanzania (east Africa) on December 19, a 33-year-old woman who returned from Ghana (west Africa) on December 17, and two men aged 26 and 31 years, who arrived from Dubai on December 13 and 18 respectively, they said.

On Saturday, Madhya Pradesh reported 42 new cases of coronavirus, raising the state’s infection tally to 7,93,655, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,532, an official earlier said.

The state had 232 active COVID-19 cases, the official added. TNS/PTI