Bhopal/Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Amid nationwide alert because of the Omicron, the first eight cases of the new COVID-19 variant have been found in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, home minister Narottam Mishra confirmed on Sunday.
While six of them have been discharged, two patients, who are asymptomatic, are undergoing treatment, Mishra said.
“26 persons who returned from various countries were tested COVID-19 positive in Indore. Among them, eight were found infected with omicron,” he added.
Sources said that among eight omicron patients, four were females and four males. All of them returned to Indore around two weeks back from different countries including Tanzania, USA, UAE, Ghana and UK. They were tested COVID-19 positive, sources added.
“Samples of 26 COVID-19 positive foreign returnees were sent for genome sequences for omicron,” sources said.
The omicron- that is a variant of concern, has already spread in Indore and nearly 415 cases have been reported in the country, so far.
This is, as experts warn, is the most transmissible variant of the coronavirus. It was first detected in South Africa and spread to various countries.
Meanwhile, 42 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state in the past 24 hours.
