THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state on Friday reported two more Omicron infections.
An elderly couple who came from Sharjah and landed at Ernakulam on December 8, has been detected with the new variant of Covid causing virus.
The man is aged 68 and the woman aged 67. They developed symptoms while under self-monitoring at home and tested Covid positive on December 11 and 12. The results of the genetic test confirming the presence of Omicron at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram came, on Friday. So far seven persons have been detected with Omicron in the state.
The health department has identified six persons in the primary contact list of the husband and one in the contact list of the wife. The flight in which they arrived had 54 passengers. Health minister Veena George said all close contacts of the couple will be tested.
This is the second time that Omicron cases have been detected among returnees from non-high-risk countries. Earlier a 37-year-old man who came from Congo was detected with Omicron. The minister has asked people under self-monitoring to strictly adhere to the protocol.
The state reported the first Omicron case on December 12, followed by four more on December 15.
The state has started screening international passengers based on the Centre’s guidelines from December 1. People coming from high-risk countries will be tested on arrival. As per the central government guidelines, two percent of people arriving from countries other than those designated as high risk will be tested at the airport. The samples of people who are tested positive on arrival and their contacts who become positive are sent for genetic tests to determine the presence of Omicron.