Omicron makes its way into J-K with 10 new cases

SRINAGAR — Ten cases of Omicron were detected in J&K which includes three non-local travellers, taking the tally of total detected cases to 13 in J&K, officials said on Tuesday.

A top health official told news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the first case of Omicron was detected in Kashmir on Monday while four more were detected today.

He said that three of the five detected cases include non-local travellers whose samples were taken in Anantnag and they have already returned back.

An official told KNO that a person from Shopian and a pregnant lady from Uri, who were detected positive for Omicron are stable and have recovered as well.

“Robust teams are working to trace contact of the two persons who have been tested positive for Omicron,” an official said. He said that they are working to find out with whom people have met since a person tested positive for COVID-19 and later Omicron.

While giving details of the cases, he said that three tourists whose samples were detected positive for Omicron include a 19-year-old male and 22-year-old female from Maharashtra and a 40-year-old male from Gujarat and their samples were taken from December 22 and 26, respectively.

He said that a sample of a pregnant lady from Dhani Syden, Baramulla was taken on December 20, while details of a person from Shopian, where the sample was detected positive for Omicron on Monday, were not known.

Dr Shashi Sudan Principal GMC Jammu told KNO that five fresh cases of Omicron were detected in the Jammu division on Tuesday whose samples were taken last month. Officials said that among them, two belong to Channi Himmat Jammu and one from Canal road Jammu.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier three cases of Omicron were detected in Jammu including two women from Saraswati Vihar in Talab Tillo Bohri and a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya Bantalab. However, all three patients had already recovered.