Sample from Omicron suspect in Gujarat's Jamnagar sent for testing

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat health department on Friday informed that the samples obtained from the Zimbabwe resident's arrival in Jamnagar have been sent for laboratory testing to identify whether the Covid-19 patient has been infected with the new mutant Omicron or not.

The Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), health department, Manoj Agrawal said, "The samples obtained from the 72-year-old person, who arrived from Zimbabwe, have been sent to the Biotechnological Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad. It will take at least 2 to 3 days for the results to arrive and ascertain whether the person was infected with the new mutant omicron or not. Right now there's no threat as far as the new variant of the Covid-19 is concerned and the government is fully prepared to combat the threat against the coronavirus and no changes have been made for the preparation of the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit."

A 72-year-old man tested positive for Coronavirus in the Morakda village near Jamnagar city of Gujarat. Following his return from Zimbabwe, an African nation and one of the 'at-risk' countries identified by the authorities and in order to ascertain if he is infected with the Omicron variant, the health authorities have sent his samples to Ahmedabad for genome sequencing.

The man is believed to be a native of Jamnagar and has been living in Zimbabwe for many years. He arrived on November 28 to meet his father-in-law. After he got a fever, his doctor advised him to get an RT-PCR test done. As mandated, the private laboratory informed the health authorities that his report was Covid-19 positive.

He is shifted to the isolation ward at the Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital in Jamnagar. The authorities started contact tracing as per protocols.

Two people have tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Karnataka.

The new strain has been marked as Variant of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO).