KOLKATA: A man, who was found infected with COVID-19 in West Bengal after returning from Bangladesh, tested negative for the Omicron variant of coronavirus, a health department official said on Thursday.
The patient contracted the Delta strain of coronavirus, he said. The man, a resident of Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, was found positive for the disease on December 10, and his sample was sent for genome sequencing to ascertain whether he had contracted the new Omicron variant, which has been classified as a highly transmissible virus of concern.
"We have received the report of the Bangladesh returnee. He is infected with Delta variant," the official said. The patient is undergoing treatment in the state-run Beleghata ID and BG Hospital.
Earlier, a woman, who was also found infected with COVID-19 here after coming from the UK, tested negative for the Omicron strain.
West Bengal had on Wednesday reported its first Omicron case after a seven-year-old boy, who returned from Abu Dhabi via Hyderabad, tested positive for the variant.