Delhi reports India’s 5th Omicron case: Traveller from Tanzania

Delhi on Sunday reported its first case of Omicron variant and the fifth in the country with a man recently arrived from Tanzania testing positive for the virus.

The infected person has mild symptoms and is undergoing treatment at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital (LNJP).

“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 has returned from Tanzania a few days ago,” a PTI report said.

The report said that the travel history of the 37-year-old man is being collated and his contacts being traced.

The first two cases of the variant were reported from Karnataka while two other cases were reported from Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Also read: India gets tough on travellers flouting new COVID rules; FIR against offenders

The variant was named a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO) soon after it was detected in South Africa.

The emergence of the variant put paid to India’s plans to open regular international flights and government has now imposed strict restrictions on the arrival of people from 11 ‘at-risk’ countries. The government has also asked states and Union territories to strictly screen travelers from outside and implement the testing and testing strategy.

The WHO, on the other hand, has urged countries to ramp up vaccinations to avoid any surge in cases.

“Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” the WHO recently said in a statement.

While Omicron is suspected to be highly transmissible, more than its predecessor Delta, and evasive to vaccines, scientists are yet to prove whether it is capable of causing severe diseases.