Bhubaneswar: At least four persons who arrived in Odisha from Omicron ‘at-risk’ countries have tested Covid-19 positive and their samples have been sent for genome sequencing.
“As many as 982 persons from various ‘at-risk’ foreign countries have arrived in Odisha and four of them have tested Covid Positive so far. All four persons are asymptomatic and their health condition is stable. They are under isolation now,” Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra told reporters here on Wednesday.
The samples from the foreign returnees have been sent for genome sequencing to trace if they are infected with the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 but there is no need to panic, he said.
As a new variant of the virus has been detected, there is much talk on this and the cases are being put under observation, Mishra said.
Asked about whether some of the returnees are untraceable, the director said, “Some of them are not picking phones and in a bid to trace them, our health workers and rapid response teams are visiting different villages. Once the exercise will be completed, we will be able to know who many of them are untraceable.”
Stating the State Government has successfully managed the first and second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr.Mishra said, “We are fully ready to deal with possible third wave of the pandemic.”
Meanwhile, Health Director Bijay Mohapatra said, “We have to be careful in the technical and community sector as far as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is concerned. Children are more at risk due to the new variant and necessary pediatric management has been made at various hospitals across the State,” said Dr.Mohapatra.
“We are extending ICU facilities in more hospitals and health workers are being imparted better training for effective healthcare management,” he added.
Odisha reported 255 fresh Covid positive cases and two deaths in the past 24 hours taking the death toll to 8426. Health department sources said the 255 new infections included 54 cases in the age group of 0 to 18 years. The State now has 2,142 active cases.
Out of the 255 new cases while 152 were reported from quarantine centers 103 were local contact cases.
Khordha district reported 106 cases, the highest in the State during the past 24 hours followed by Mayurbhanja (22), Sambalpur (19), Sundergarha (18), Jaipur (16), Anugul (14) and Cuttack (12). During the period two Covid deaths—one each from Cuttack and Khordha was reported.
