There is no Omicron variant in Telangana yet! All of the13 international fliers to the State have tested negative for Omicron. Their genome sequencing results were received on Monday.
The 13 passengers have come from ‘at risk’ countries to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Shamshabad, on different dates starting from December 1. RT-PCR tests are conducted on all passengers who come from the at-risk countries.
From December 1 to 6, a total of 1,805 fliers have come from the countries to the airport on the outskirts of Hyderabad, including 535 people on Monday. Of them, 13 were detected with COVID-19. The first to test positive for COVID was a 35-year-old woman who had come from United Kingdom on December 1.
Samples collected from all of them were sent for full genome sequencing to know if they have Omicron or Delta variant. In the meanwhile, they were isolated at Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS), Gachibowli.
The genome sequencing is conducted at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), and Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD).
According to the media bulletin issued on Monday night, all 13 have tested negative for Omicron. Till Monday night, results of no more of the international passengers were awaited.
