A seven-year-old child who returned from Abu Dhabi last week has tested positive for Omicron. This is the first reported case of the variant of COVID-19 in West Bengal. The parents of the child had returned from Abu Dhabi to Hyderabad on December 10 and then taken a flight from Hyderabad to Kolkata.
“The child has tested positive for Omicron but the parents have not. We are following all protocols. If required we will admit the child in hospital,” Sandip Sanyal, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Murshidabd, told The Hindu.
Dr. Sanyal said though the family is based out of Farakka, the parents and the child are at present residing at a relative’s place in Kaliachak in Malda district.
Officials of the State Health Department said the genome sequencing of the samples collected at the Kolkata airport has confirmed the presence of the variant in the samples of the child.
Questions are being raised if the child had tested positive for COVID-19, how could the family members travel to Malda and not isolate themselves. There are reports that the family had travelled from Kolkata to Murshidabad by road. The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated Omicron as a Variant of Concern (VOC).
West Bengal is recording about 500 new cases of COVID-19 on a daily basis. Though the number of infections remains under control considering the population, the State is registered almost eight to 10 deaths due to COVID-19 infections everyday. Ten deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours taking the toll to 19,620.
