Omicron variant crops up in Kerala too as flyer from UK tests positive

A man, who flew in to Kochi from the UK, has tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Kerala Health Minister, Veena George announced on Sunday.

She said that the passenger is stable and is under observation, while stressing that there was no need for panic as situation is under control.

According to the minister, the passenger had reached Nedumbassery airport in Kochi on December 6 and on December 8, he had tested Covid-19 positive. His samples were sent to New Delhi as well as the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology at Thiruvananthapuram for genome sequencing and the results came out on Sunday.

George said that the man had reached Abu Dhabi from the UK in an Ethihad flight and said that all his fellow passengers will be under observation as per the Centre's guidelines for Omicron positive patients.

She said that passengers in seats 26 to 32 who were sitting nearer to him are high-risk passengers and all of them are informed of the situation.

His local contacts were his wife and mother-in-law and the latter had tested positive too and is admitted to an isolated ward.

George said that all the follow-ups are being done and only caution is required as she urged people not to panic.

--IANS

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