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Bengal detects first Omicron case; 7-year-old Murshidabad boy tests positive
The child and his parents landed in Hyderabad late on the night of December 10. Their flight came from Abu Dhabi. They took a flight to Kolkata on December 11 and, according to reports received so far, travelled to Farakka in a car.
A seven-year-old boy from Murshidabad district, who returned from abroad with his parents on December 10, has become West Bengal’s first resident to test positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the state health department said on Wednesday afternoon.
The family lives at Beniagram in Murshidabad’s Farakka area but on Wednesday the boy and his parents were in Kaliachak in the adjoining Malda district where they had gone to visit some relatives.
“The boy is in stable condition,” said Sandip Sanyal, chief medical officer of health, Murshidabad.
“Health workers are in touch with the family. The area where the family live has been declared a containment zone,” Sanyal added.
“The child and his parents landed in Hyderabad late on the night of December 10. Their flight came from Abu Dhabi. They took a flight to Kolkata on December 11 and, according to reports received so far, travelled to Farakka in a car,” Sanyal said.
“Their swab samples were collected at the Kolkata airport. The boy tested positive for the Omicron variant during genome sequencing,” Sanyal added.
A senior health department official said in Kolkata that the child will be sent to a hospital soon and his parents and relatives will be kept in isolation following standard Covid-19 protocol.
On Tuesday, Bengal reported 552 new Covid-19 cases and the total number of cases stood at 16,24,161.
As many as 19,620 people have died in Bengal till Tuesday. The fatality rate stands at 1.21 % against a discharge rate of 98.33 % according to the health department’s last bulletin. There were 7,505 active cases till Tuesday night.
