Bhubaneswar : , Dec 8 : .At least four people who arrived in Odisha in ‘at-risk countries’ — where the Omicron version of the coronavirus infects people — have tested positive for Covid-19, an official stated on Wednesday.
He also added that their samples were sent for genome sequencing. “Around 982 people from different ‘at-risk” countries have arrived in Odisha.
Four of them have tested positive for Covid so far.All four people are symptomatic and their health is stable.They are now isolated,” Niranjan Mishra, Odisha’s public health director, told reporters.
He said that although the samples were sent for genome sequencing to determine if they have been infected by the Omicron variant SARS-CoV-2, there is no need for panic.
Mishra stated that a new virus variant has been identified and that the cases are being monitored.
When asked if some of the returnees were difficult to track, the director replied: “Some of them don’t pick phones so in an effort to trace them, our rapid response teams and health workers are visiting different villages.We will be able determine how many are traceable once the exercise is complete.
Mishra stated that the Odisha government had successfully managed the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.He added: “We are fully prepared to deal with any third wave of this pandemic.”
Odisha reported 255 new Covid positive cases and two deaths within the last 24 hours.This brings the death toll up to 8,426.
Sources from the Health Department said that the 255 new infections comprised 54 cases of infection in the age group of 0-18 years.
There are now 2,142 active cases in the state.
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