1 Out Of 5 New Omicron Cases Has No International Travel History: Odisha Health Official

In what could ring alarm bells, 1 out of the 5 persons in Odisha who tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid 19 on Thursday, does not have any international travel history.

All the five new cases of Omicron variant infection were detected following genome sequencing, said Bijay Mohapatra, Director of Health Services (DHS) on Thursday.

The Omicron cases tally in Odisha has jumped to 14 after the detection of the five new cases, as per the data shared by the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS).

Of the five new Omicron cases (4 male and 1 female), four are foreign returnees with a travel history to Qatar, Congo and UAE. The fifth person has no international travel history, but had visited Hyderabad and Raipur, said Mohapatra adding that all those who have tested positive for Omicron variant belong to the age group of 22 to 44 years.

“As Omicron cases have also been detected in Andhra Pradesh, the fifth person might have contracted the virus there. However, we do not have sufficient data to back the infection history,” said Mohapatra.

Already the contact tracing of five persons, who have tested positive for the Omicron variant, have been completed and 1 of them has tested positive for Covid-19. The sample has been sent for genome sequencing to ascertain the presence of Omicron. The contact tracing reports of two other positive cases are awaited.

“The condition of all the five, who have tested positive for Omicron variant, is stable and only two of them are undergoing treatment at hospitals,” Mohapatra added.