Eight more Omicron cases detected in Kerala, state’s first patient recovers

Eight more cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus were detected in Kerala on Friday, taking the total number of infected people to 37, Health Minister Veena George said. One person each from Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, two each from Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts have been detected with the new variant of the virus. Meanwhile, the first Omicron positive patient aged 39 has been discharged from hospital.

The Health department said a 48-year-old foreigner who reached Thiruvananthapuram from Russia, a Kollam native (40) who reached Ernakulam from Namibia, an Alappuzha native (28) who reached Ernakulam from Qatar were among those who were found infected with the new variant.

Another Alappuzha native (40) who reached Ernakulam from Qatar, a three-year-old girl who reached Ernakulam from the United Kingdom, a 25-year-old Ernakulam native who came from UAE, a Thrissur native (48) from Kenya and another Thrissur native (71) who was in the primary contact list of a patient are among those who were confirmed with the new variant.

"The three-year-old came from the UK along with her parents. Her parents were tested negative on arrival at the airport. They were under home quarantine. The tests were done after the child started showing symptoms," the health department said in a release.

The new variant was confirmed in the examination of their samples conducted at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology here after they turned COVID positive.

The state had detected its first Omicron case on December 12 in Ernakulam district when a person who had returned from the UK tested positive.

The Union government said that 358 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported in India so far, of which 183 were analysed and it was found that 87 of them were fully vaccinated with three having received booster doses while 70 per cent were asymptomatic.