India Reports 2 Cases Of Omicron COVID-19 Variant From Karnataka

Mumbai: India has reported two cases of Omicron COVID-19 variant from Karnataka, with the patients being two men aged 66 and 46.

Cases of the variant have been found in South Africa, the US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, the UK and several other countries.

“Two cases of Omicron detected in Karnataka so far through genome sequencing effort of the INSACOG consortium of 37 laboratories established by the Ministry of Health. We need not panic, but awareness is absolutely essential. COVID appropriate behaviour is required,” said Balram Bhargava, Director General ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research).

According to the Union Health Ministry, all the contacts of persons infected with Omicron have been identified and are being monitored. MoHFW joint secretary Lav Agarwal said, “Protocol is being followed.”

Agarwal further stated that no severe symptoms of the Omicron variant have been reported so far.

“All Omicron related cases are found to have mild symptoms so far…In all such cases in the country and across the world so far, no severe symptom has been noted. WHO has said that its emerging evidence is being studied,” he said.

Both the infected persons are men – one is 66 years old and the other is 46 years old. However, the health ministry did not disclose to which country the infected persons belonged and whether they were vaccinated or not.

“We don’t want to go into minute details about where the passengers are from, whether they were vaccinated, we should not disclose such information,” Agarwal said.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.