BENGALURU: Karnataka reported 10 more cases of Omicron, taking the tally of this highly-contagious Covid variant to 76 on Monday. “Ten new cases of Omicron have been confirmed in Karnataka on January 2,” tweeted Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.
Of the new cases, eight, including five international travellers, were from Bengaluru and two from Dharwad. Two are non-vaccinated children, while the remaining are adults who are fully vaccinated.
One is a 19-year-old male, who travelled from the US to Bengaluru and developed mild symptoms later and tested positive. He had three primary contacts who are all positive and five secondary contacts who are negative. The country’s first two Omicron cases were reported in Karnataka on December 2.
Genome sequencing test for contacts
A 40-year-old woman, who travelled from Belgium to Bengaluru, is among the Omicron-positive patients. She is, however, asymptomatic. She has five primary contacts, of which one is positive, and 10 secondary contacts who are negative. The third case is of a 46-year-old Canadian woman, who travelled from Dubai to Bengaluru and was declared positive after the test at the airport.
All her primary contacts are negative. Two women, both aged 49, who flew from Dubai to Bengaluru, tested positive and have 18 primary contacts each. A 13-yearold girl who was the primary contact of an international traveller (Patient 67) tested positive and has five primary contacts. Another 42-year-old woman, who travelled from Mumbai to Bengaluru, tested positive and has two primary contacts who are negative and 14 secondary contacts who are also negative.
A 65-year-old woman, who also travelled from Mumbai to Bengaluru and tested positive, has two negative primary contacts and 12 negative secondary contacts. The other paediatric patient is a 14-year-old girl who was a cluster contact of a positive patient in Dharwad. She has three positive primary and 395 negative secondary contacts.
A 53-year-old woman teacher, who is a cluster contact of a positive case in Dharwad, was admitted to a hospital, discharged and is in home quarantine. Four of her five primary contacts are positive, while 395 secondary contacts are negative. The samples of primary contacts who have tested positive are being sent for genome sequencing to verify whether they too are infected with Omicron.
Cabinet meet today, tougher curbs likely
The Karnataka government is likely to restrict large gatherings, following the CM’s meeting with an expert committee on Tuesday, followed by the cabinet meeting on Thursday. They will discuss the Covid situation and take appropriate decisions for long-term measures to tackle Covid-positive cases, especially the Omicron variant. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the experts have been asked to suggest appropriate control measures without affecting people’s routine life.