BHUBANESWAR: Odisha on Thursday reported two more cases of Omicron variant of SARS-COV-2 taking the tally to four in three days.
Official sources said two foreign returnees, who had tested positive for Covid-19 after their arrival in the state, have been detected with the super mutant variant. Their samples were sequenced at Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar.
Both minors, aged 11 and 15, had recently returned from Nigeria to Khurda. Their swab samples were RT-PCR tested at Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), here and found to be Covid-19 positive. Their mother, however, tested negative.
With mild symptoms the two minors have been admitted to SUM Covid Hospital and are being monitored constantly. Their health condition is stated to be stable.
ILS Director Dr Ajay Parida said the two cases of Omicron were found among nine samples sequenced at the laboratory on Wednesday. "So far 16 samples have been sequenced and four found positive for Omicron. The detection of the mutated variant among the children is a concern," he told The New Indian Express.
The State government has decided to step up testing and districts have been given a target to conduct at least 70,000 tests, including 40 per cent of samples through RT-PCR, daily.
So far, India has reported 238 Omicron cases from 16 states and union territories with Maharashtra leading the tally with 65 cases, followed by Delhi (64).
Meanwhile, Odisha recorded 155 new Covid cases from 17 districts and one death in last 24 hours taking the tally to 10,53,504 and death toll to 8448.
With 84 fresh infections, Khurda district continued to be the major contributor to the caseload, followed by Sambalpur (10) and Cuttack (8). The active cases stood at 1784.