The genome sequencing report of the six international passengers who had landed at various international airports in Tamil Nadu has reported no BF.7 variant of Omicron. Tamil Nadu Health Minister, Ma Subramanian said that the two China-returned passengers, who tested COVID-19 positive, were affected by BA5.2. One passenger each from Muscat, Kuwait, and Bangkok was identified with BA.2 strain of Omicron. Another passenger, who arrived from Muscat and tested positive, has the XBB.1 strain of Omicron.

The state has analysed 93 samples so far and of this, 98 per cent had tested either BA.2 or BA.5 while the remaining 2% tested positive for the Delta variant. The Health Minister also said that all the patients are recovering well after being in home isolation.

With the Omicron BF.7 strain being prominent in countries like China, Japan, and Hong Kong, the union government has made random testing of passengers mandatory at international airports.

According to The Hindu, twelve people tested positive for the coronavirus in Tamil Nadu on Monday, January 2. Three people from Chennai tested positive while two others from Kancheepuram and Coimbatore also tested positive. There was a single case reported from Namakkal, Tiruppur, Trichy and Vellore. So far, Tamil Nadu has reported 35,94,456 cases.

As of Monday, nine people in the state had recovered from COVID-19 and were discharged from hospitals. Meanwhile, 89 people are receiving treatment across the state. Out of the 89 active cases, Chennai has 27, while Coimbatore and Chengalpattu have nine cases each. On Monday, as many as 5,127 samples were tested.

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases around the world, India has made it mandatory for passengers transiting through China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand to have negative COVID-19 reports. The negative report has been sought, irrespective of where the passenger's journey originates from.

(With PTI and IANS inputs)