COVID-19: First Omicron case detected in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati: A 34-year old foreign traveller, who came from Ireland, tested positive for COVID-19 with the latest strain Omicron, the first such case detected in Andhra Pradesh, the state health department said here on Sunday. The person, who first landed in Mumbai, was tested and found negative for COVID-19. He was then allowed to travel onward to Visakhapatnam on 27 November. “On conducting a second RT-PCR test in Vizianagaram, he tested positive for COVID-19. His sample was then sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad for genome sequencing and the result came out as Omicron positive,” the public health director said in a release. The person, however, did not have any symptoms and a re-test on 11 December showed he was COVID-19 negative. “There are no other Omicron cases in the state,” the director said. So far, 15 foreign travellers who came to the state were found COVID-19 positive and all the samples were sent to CCMB for genome sequencing. “Of the 15, genome sequencing reports related to 10 cases were received and only one of them was confirmed Omicron positive,” the director added. The public health director asked people not to worry but continue to follow Covid appropriate behaviour and take necessary precautions.