VIJAYAWADA: The number of Omicron cases in the state has increased to sixteen with ten more foreign returnees testing positive for the new coronavirus variant on Wednesday. Three of them are contacts of international travellers.
Among the ten new cases reported, three were in East Godavari district, two each in Anantapur and Kurnool districts and one each in West Godavari, Chittoor and Guntur district.
Two of the three Omicron cases are the contacts of a 50-year-old man who arrived from Saudi Arabia to East Godavari district on December 14. His samples were collected along with those of his primary and secondary contacts a couple of days after his arrival and sent for genome sequencing to CCMB in Hyderabad and the results came out positive for him and two of his contacts.
A 22-year-old international traveller from the US who arrived in Anantapur district on December 18 and a 17-year-old primary contact of his have tested positive for Covid-19 and their samples were sent for genome sequencing which tested positive for Omicron.
A 45-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman who returned to Kurnool district from the UAE on December 20 were tested for Covid-19 and on being found positive, their samples were sent for genome sequencing and on Wednesday, their results were declared positive for Omicron. A 28-year-old man, who returned to Chittoor district on December 21, was tested at the airport and results came positive for Covid-19. His samples were sent to CCMB in Hyderabad for genome sequencing and on Wednesday the results came positive for Omicron.
A 48-year-old man came from Nigeria to Guntur on December 18 and his samples were collected and tested for Covid-19. After they turned positive, his samples were sent for genome sequencing and test results were positive for Omicron. Similarly, the samples of a 41-year-old woman from West Godavari district, who returned from Kuwait on December 21, which were sent for genome sequencing when she tested positive for Covid-19, also came positive for Omicron.
Dr G Hymavathi, Director of Public Health and Family Welfare, said all contacts of the Omicron cases were traced and tested and the positive samples were sent to CCMB for genome sequencing. “The health of all those who tested positive for Omicron in the state so far is stable and they have been either sent to home isolation or institutional quarantine. We are closely monitoring their condition and their samples will be tested again shortly for Covid-19. Already one of the 16 has tested negative for Covid-19,” she told The New Indian Express.
Health department officials urged the public not to panic or believe in rumours and advised them to follow Covid appropriate behaviour -- wearing of masks, social distancing, washing hands regularly, avoiding group meetings, functions and gathering in public places. Those who are not vaccinated or are yet to take the second dose of the vaccine are advised to get it immediately as per the schedule.
A 34-year-old man who returned to Vizianagaram from Ireland was the first to test positive for Omicron in the state on December 12. The second Omicron case emerged from Tirupati with a 39-year-old woman, who returned from Kenya, testing positive for the new variant. The third and fourth cases were reported from East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts, while the fifth and sixth were from Prakasam and Anantapur.
According to health department officials, as on Wednesday, a total of 42,156 international travellers arrived in Andhra Pradesh from December 1. Out of them, 40,338 have been traced and among those, 73 have tested positive for Covid-19 (RT PCR test). Fourteen of their contacts also tested positive for Covid-19. Among the 73 who tested positive, 23 were from the US, 12 from the UAE and six from the UK.