Twelve suspected Omicron cases in Delhi after fliers from 'at risk' countries test positive for COVID-19; results awaited

New Delhi: Twelve suspected patients of Omicron, who flew in the National Capital from “at risk” countries", are admitted to the Delhi government’s LNJP hospital, according to a senior hospital official. Of these, eight are confirmed coronavirus patients while four have symptoms like sore throat, fever and history of contact with patients. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing and the results will take four or five days, the official said. “Four patients are from UK, four from France, two from Netherlands, one from Belgium and one from Tanzania. Two of the patients are foreign nationals,” said Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital. Four of the patients tested positive through RT-PCR while four tested positive through the rapid antigen test, he added. Earlier this week, the Delhi government had designated the LNJP hospital for treatment of patients infected with the new Omicron variant of coronavirus. According to the Centre, the countries designated as “at-risk” include the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel. Travellers from these “at-risk” countries are following additional measures on arrival in India from Tuesday midnight. Under the new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from the “at-risk” countries and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come. Also, five percent of the passengers arriving in flights from other countries will be subject to the test randomly.