NEW DELHI : A total of 5 cases of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron have been detected from India so far -- two from Karnataka and one each from Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat. However, all the patients had mild symptoms.
All Covid-positive international travellers are being admitted to the LNJP Hospital, where a dedicated ward has been set up for isolating and treating them.
Under the new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from the "at-risk" countries and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come.
According to the Centre, the countries designated as "at-risk" are European countries, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
The South African doctor who raised the alarm over Omicron said dozens of her patients suspected of having the new coronavirus variant had only shown mild symptoms and recovered fully without hospitalisation.
The Tanzania returnee who became the 5th Omicron patient of India and the first confirmed case of Delhi had a sore throat, weakness and body ache, LNJP MP Dr Suresh Kumar told news agency ANI.
Other patients are majorly asymptomatic.
Not much known about this new variant Omicron that World Health Organization designated as a variant of concern. It was earlier reported to have a probable thirty mutations. However a potential threat has been ruled out for now. The variant is still at the stage of research and the cases reported in India and other countries indicate that the symptoms are more like common cold and nothing like Covid-19 cases, caused by other variants.
Scientists say the variant might have adopted a "more human" appearance by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus, probably a common cold virus.
The first Omicron case of India, the South African national who already left the country, was completely asymptomatic and tested negative. The Bengaluru doctor with no international travel history, the Mumbai marine engineer who was not vaccinated, the Gujarat NRI -- all Omicron patients have reported mild symptoms.
Scientists over the world have warned that although Omicron might not be fatal, they cannot vouch for its transmissibility. The symptoms indicate that the variant is not causing severe illness.
There has been no reported cases of breathing trouble or loss of smell or taste
In the latest updates, the 33-year-old man from Maharashtra's Thane district, who had tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus, is in a "stable" condition and is responding well to the medical treatment.
