Gujarat reports four new cases of Omicron variant; tally rises to 11

Four new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus were reported in Gujarat on Sunday, which took the state's count of the persons infected with this strain to 11

Four new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus were reported in Gujarat on Sunday, which took the state's count of the persons infected with this strain to eleven, officials said.

A 45-year-old NRI and a teenage boy who came from the UK, a Surat-based woman who had recently visited Dubai and a Tanzanian national are the new patients of the Omicron variant found in the state.

The NRI (non-resident Indian) had tested positive for the coronavirus infection in the RT-PCR test carried out at the Ahmedabad international airport soon after his arrival from the UK on December 15, a health department official said.

"The man's sample later confirmed that he was infected with the Omicron variant," Anand district health officer Dr M T Chhari said. He was scheduled to reach the state's Anand city from Ahmedabad.

"But, after he tested positive for the coronavirus, he was taken to the Ahmedabad civil hospital from the airport. The patient is currently recovering at the Ahmedabad civil hospital, Dr Chhari said.

His co-passengers and other contacts have tested negative for the viral infection, the official said.

On Saturday, a 15-year-old boy from Gandhinagar was also detected with the Omicron variant after returning from the UK, Gandhinagar Municipal Commissioner Dhaval Patel said.

A 23-year-old Tanzanian national, who had tested positive for COVID-19 at Rajkot on December 15, and a 39-year-old businesswoman in Surat, who recently returned from Dubai have also been found infected with the new variant of the virus, officials said, adding that with these cases, the overall Omicron case count in the state has risen to eleven.

The Tanzania national had arrived at Ahmedabad via Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam, had tested negative for the virus in the RT-PCR test carried out at the airport. However, when he was tested again upon reaching Rajkot, he was found positive on December 15, said Rajkot collector Arun Mahesh Babu.

"The genome sequencing of his sample on Sunday confirmed him to be infected with the Omicron variant," he said.

The woman from Surat had gone to Dubai with her two sons and returned to Surat on December 5. On December 13, while on her way back to Dubai, she tested positive for COVID-19 in an RT-PCR test carried out at the Surat airport, health officials said.

All her contacts, including her son and daughter, have tested negative for the virus, the official said.