5 Contacts Of Omicron-Infected Person Test Covid-19 Positive; Samples Sent For Genome Sequencing
After two people in Karnataka were found to be infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus, five contacts of one of the patients have now tested positive for Covid-19.
Their samples have been forwarded for genome sequencing to determine if they have been infected with the new strain, Omicron, Bengaluru’s civic body informed on Thursday.
“Three primary contacts and two secondary contacts of the 46-year-old male tested positive between November 22 and November 25. All are isolated,” news agency ANI quoted Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as saying.
Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar said that all the five are fully vaccinated against the Covid-19, and have been admitted to a government hospital.
“Out of his (doctor’s) primary & secondary contact, 5 people tested positive for Covid-19. So a total of 6 people have been isolated, admitted to government hospitals. None of them showed any serious symptoms. All these people are fully vaccinated,” ANI quoted him as saying.
According to a statement issued by the BBMP, one of the two patients is a 66-year-old male while the other is a 46-year-old male. The former had returned from South Africa, via Dubai, and was fully vaccinated.
“There were 24 primary contacts of the 66-year-old male. All are asymptomatic, tested and reported negative for the Covid,” the Bengaluru municipal corporation said.
“As many as 13 primary contacts and 205 secondary contacts of the 46-year-old male were tested. Out of which, three primary contacts and two secondary contacts were tested positive between November 22 and 25.
All are isolated. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing, results are awaited,” it said.
The new Covid-19 variant was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.
On November 26, the WHO named the new Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as ‘Omicron’. The WHO has classified Omicron as a ‘variant of concern’.