The Omicron variant has entered India and is now a possibility of finding more patients infected with the same variant. Some countries like New Zealand, Brazil, South Africa, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, China, Brazil, and the United Kingdom are at high risk for the Omicron variant. So here are some updates about Omicron cases in India.
Local doctor Omicron patient, 5 other contacts tested positive
As per reports, a doctor from Bengaluru has been found covid positive and was announced that he is the first reported person of the new coronavirus variant called Omicron in India. The patient was isolated and the samples were sent to the laboratory for genome testing.
The doctor has no travel history but developed the symptoms of body ache and fever on November 21. After the test results, he was admitted into the hospital and the samples were taken for genome sequencing, and three days later the patient was discharged from the hospital.
After the results, the Karnataka government started tracing the contacts extensively and found that around 13 people were in direct contact with the doctor and 250 were in secondary contact.
Another patient is a sixty-six-year-old from South Africa who arrived in India with the negative covid report, he was asymptomatic so he was suggested to self isolate himself and a week later he left for Dubai as he received a negative covid report from the lab. The variant has 50+ mutations and that includes over 30 on the spike protein as per the reports and is more dangerous than the delta variant.
More travelers tested positive, sample for genome sequencing
The fear is slowly turning into the reality of getting a new variant of coronavirus. 26 international travelers have been tested positive, nine patients in Maharashtra, eight patients in Delhi, five patients in Jaipur, one patient in Chandigarh, Chennai, and Trichy each. These samples have been sent for genome sequencing and are being monitored frequently.
A 35-year-old woman from Hyderabad was tested positive, she traveled from the United Kingdom and also four people from the same family have been tested positive in Rajasthan, they recently traveled from South Africa, along with that the other five family members who were in contact with them have also been tested positive and now are waiting for the genome sequencing results and are self-isolated. Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, two persons are found covid positive including a child, they traveled from Singapore and England.
Cyclone Jawad to travel Odisha-Andhra coast
On one hand, where we are dealing with the new variant of coronavirus, cyclone Jawad is in action. The cyclone has its origin in the Bay of Bengal on Friday and now it is expected to cover the journey to the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh by Sunday morning.
After cyclone Yaas and Gulaab, this is the third cyclone in the year 2021. According to the Director-General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the cyclone will show its true impact when it will come to the severe cyclone category and will bring gusty winds and very heavy rainfall between Saturday and Sunday. The winds are expected during the next 48 hours and IMD has issued the notice to stop water-related activities like fishing and tourism till Monday.
It is predicted that the maximum speed of the wind will be around 90 to 100 km/hr and the places which will remain highly impacted are expected to be Puri, Visakhapatnam, Balasore, Nayagarh, Srikakulam, Ganjam, Gajapati, and Bhadrak.
After that, the cyclone can recurve can move towards the coast to West Bengal and very heavy rainfall will be experienced over there. After December 6 the rainfall will begin to reduce and shift to the northeast region.
Air quality to remain very poor
Delhi has been struggling with poor air quality due to air pollution and recently a forecast was released by the Air Quality Early Warning System that on the upcoming days that is on 3rd, 4th, and 5th December the air quality will remain very poor.
Amid the fear where people are scared with the new variant of coronavirus and till now ten passengers are tested positive at the Delhi airport who traveled from high-risk countries, two of them traveled from London, one from Doha, three from Amsterdam, three from Paris, and one from London and they are waiting for the results of genome sequencing and are isolated.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
