Andhra Pradesh reports second case of Omicron

Amaravati, Dec 22 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday reported a second case of Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19, a top health official said.

A 39-year-old female foreign traveller, who came from Kenya on December 10, has been found positive for Omicron.

According to Director of Public Health, G. Hymavathi the woman reached Chennai Airport on December 10 and later came to Tirupati by car.

She was tested on reaching Tirupati and declared positive for Covid-19 upon undergoing a RT-PCR test on December 12. Her sample was sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, for genome sequencing and she was declared Omicron positive on Wednesday.

"She is healthy and in institutional quarantine under the close observation of the health department," the Director said.

Six of the woman's family members were tested and found negative for Covid-19.

This is the second case of Omicron detected in Andhra Pradesh.

The state had reported the first Omicron case on December 12. A 34-year-old man, who returned from Ireland late November, had tested positive for the new variant, health officials said.

The man from Vijayanagaram district had come to Visakhapatnam through Mumbai on November 27. He had tested negative for Covid-19 in a RT-PCR test conducted at Mumbai airport.

However, after the mandatory 14-day home quarantine in Vijayanagaram, he was subjected to another RT-PCR test which turned out to be positive.

Till now a total of 45 foreign travellers and 9 contacts were found Covid-19 positive and all samples were sent to CCMB for genome sequencing.

The Director of Public Health advised people not to worry and believe any rumours but continue to take precautions and follow social distancing, wearing a mask and washing hands regularly.