Gujarat confirms two more Omicron cases, India's tally reaches 25

The wife and brother-in-law of the 72-year-old NRI man in Gujarat, who had tested positive for Omicron last week, have also been found infected with the new variant.

New Delhi: Gujarat has confirmed two more cases of Omicron variant, taking the total tally in the state to three. The wife and brother-in-law of the 72-year-old NRI man, who had tested positive for Omicron last week, have been detected with the variant, Jamnagar Municipal Corporation (JMC) informed on Friday (December 10). 

“Genome sequencing of swab samples at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) in Gandhinagar has established that both the COVID-19 patients were also infected with the Omicron variant”, official told PTI. 

As per the official release, these patients have been shifted to a special Omicron Ward created in the state-run Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital in Jamnagar. 

In order to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, JMC had declared the residential society, where the NRI's family resides, a micro-containment zone and restricted the movement of people there by putting barricades. 

The Gujarat health department had informed on December 4 that a 72-year-old man was found infected with the Omicron variant in Jamnagar city, days after he arrived in the state from Zimbabwe. The man had arrived in Gujarat from Zimbabwe on November 28 and had tested positive for COVID-19 on December 2, after which his sample was sent for genome sequencing to Ahmedabad, officials had told PTI.

After the first Omicron case, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness and instructed officials to strictly implement the Centre’s COVID-19 guidelines. 

With the detection of two more cases, India’s total Omicron caseload has reached 25. 

(With agency inputs)