Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday reported its second case due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the state government said. The patient, a 39-year-old woman, had a travel history to Kenya.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Dr Hymavati, the director of the state’s health department, said on Wednesday that the woman arrived at the Chennai Airport from Kenya on December 10.
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“She reached Tirupati by car. She was tested on reaching Tirupati and declared RT-PCR positive for Covid-19 on December 12,” Dr Hymavati said and added that the patient is healthy and in institutional quarantine.
“The sample was sent to Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for Genome Sequencing and the result was declared as Omicron Positive on December 22,” Dr Hymavati further told the news agency.
However, the woman’s family members were tested for Covid-19 and their results came negative, Dr Hymavati added.
{{/usCountry}}However, the woman’s family members were tested for Covid-19 and their results came negative, Dr Hymavati added.
{{/usCountry}}The first case of Omicron in Andhra Pradesh was detected on December 12. The health department said that a 34-year-old foreign traveller who came to Mumbai from Ireland initially tested negative for Covid-19.
Till now, Andhra Pradesh has seen a total of 45 foreign travellers and 9 contacts getting infected with Covid-19.
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Meanwhile, in India, the total number of Omicron cases has crossed the 200-mark with Delhi and Maharashtra being the leading contributors.
States and Union Territories (UTs) have been asked by the Centre to be on alert amid the increased spread of the variant in the country. On Tuesday, the Union health secretary advised states and UTs to implement strategic interventions for containment such as night curfews, strict regulation of large gatherings, allowing fewer people in offices and public transport etc.
(With ANI inputs)