Telangana Director of Public Health and Family Welfare, G Srinivasa Rao on Thursday, December 2 clarified that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has not been detected in Telangana. The official issued a clarification hours after he held a press meet where he said that a 35-year-old woman who had travelled from the United Kingdom on a British Airways flight to Hyderabad had tested positive for the coronavirus. The issue came to light after she was tested at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad.
The officials said that the woman’s samples have been collected and sent for whole genome sequencing. "Whether she has the Omicron or Delta variant will be known only after receiving the genome sequencing results," the clarification stated.
Addressing reporters earlier in the day, Srinivasa Rao had said, "An Indian woman travelling from the UK to Hyderabad tested positive. She hails from Ranga Reddy district. Her health is stable and she has no symptoms. Her health is being monitored. There were a total of 239 people from Telangana who were co-passengers and they travelled from the UK and Singapore. The rest of the co-passengers are from other states and they have been informed. Their health status is being monitored and tracked closely. Another RT-PCR test will be done after eight days. Out of a total of 325 people, only 1 person tested positive."
Presently, those coming from the 11 countries mentioned by the Union government are being tested on landing. Besides this, 2% of other international passengers are being randomly tested too, he added.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Health Department has also said that it would impose a fine of Rs 1,000 on those not wearing masks in public places. "We request people to carry their COVID-19 vaccine certificates. Telangana Health Department teams will visit public places and will randomly ask people for vaccine certificates. This is a cautionary measure and also to create awareness towards vaccination," a statement said.
Telangana on Wednesday, December 1, reported 193 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its total tally to 6.76 lakh while the toll rose to 3,993 with one more fatality. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 73, followed by neighbouring Ranga Reddy (17) and Medchal Malkajgiri (14) districts, a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 pm.
The number of active cases is now 3,630, the bulletin said. The Case Fatality Rate in Telangana stands at 0.59% and the recovery rate at 98.87%, the bulletin said.
With IANS and PTI inputs