Covid-19: Woman in MP found infected with Omicron after foreign travel

A 26-year-old woman, who returned to Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district recently from the Netherlands, has been found infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, an official said on Sunday.

This is the first Omicron case outside Indore in MP. Earlier, nine cases of the new variant were found in Indore, the state's industrial hub.

With the latest case, the Omicron infection tally in the state has gone up to 10.

The woman's sample was collected for COVID-19 examination on her arrival in New Delhi from the Netherlands on December 26. After she reached Chhindwara, the district administration asked her to isolate at home, sub-divisional magistrate Atul Singh said.

The district administration on Friday received information that she had tested positive for the Omicron variant, he said.

After receiving the information, three of her family members were also isolated and tested, the official said.

The woman has been shifted to a private ward of the district hospital where a team of doctors is monitoring her, the district hospital's civil surgeon, Shikhar Surana, said.

On Saturday, Madhya Pradesh reported 124 new cases of COVID-19, raising the infection count in the state to 7,94,089, while death the toll stood at 10,533, as no fatality were reported during the day.

The central state had 497 active COVID-19 cases, as per the health department.