Covid: Two more Omicron cases in Telangana take state's tally to nine

Two more Omicron cases have been reported in Telangana, taking the total number of cases of the new coronavirus variant recorded at the city's international airport to nine, a health official said on Friday.

The nine includes a boy from West Bengal who flew to Kolkata with his family members without entering the city after his samples were collected at the international airport.

Observing that all the eight cases in the state were passengers who arrived from abroad, state Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao said neither community transmission nor locals testing positive for Omicron occurred in Telangana so far.

One of the positive cases is a woman who came from the UK and belongs to Hanumakonda at Warangal in Telangana.

She had tested negative in the test conducted at Hyderabad airport, but found positive for COVID-19 when tested after eight days of home quarantine.

Genome sequencing of samples collected from her revealed her to be positive for Omicron, the official said.

The Telangana government is fully geared up to deal with a third wave if it occurs, he said.

The government has made arrangements to treat over 60,000 patients at the same time in the state.

He appealed to the people not to panic over Omicron as the treatment protocols and others remain the same.

He stressed on the importance of vaccination and following COVID-appropriate behaviour to effectively deal with the virus.