A student at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital is the latest omicron-positive person in Bengal.
He is the first instance of someone without any foreign travel history testing positive for the omicron variant of novel coronavirus.
The man in his mid-20s was admitted to Beleghata Infectious Diseases Hospital late on Friday.
An official of the hospital said that he underwent a Covid test after he had mild fever and a cold and cough. “He is stable now,” said the official.
Ajay Chakraborty, the state’s director of health services, said that three persons were identified as his contacts.
“Since he is a medical professional, he might have come in contact with some patients. We are trying to get all clues,” said Chakraborty.
“Last night, we got the genome sequencing report for the student that confirmed he was omicron-positive,” said a health department official. The genome sequencing test helps ascertain if a Covid positive person was infected by the omicron variant.
Five hundred and fifty-two new Covid cases were reported in Bengal and 197 new cases were reported from Kolkata on Saturday.
“The intern’s samples were sent for genome sequencing because doctors who treated him suggested a genome sequencing of his samples,” said a senior official of the state health department.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) asked local health authorities to send all Covid-19-positive samples from Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune for sequencing to determine whether omicron was already circulating in their populations.
The intern is the sixth known omicron case in the state.
Chakraborty said that it was too early to say if the student testing positive meant that the omicron variant has transmitted among the community already. All others who tested positive for omicron had arrived from foreign countries.
A public health expert said that everyone should become cautious, get vaccinated and wear masks. “These are the only tools to stay protected,” said the expert.
The Union government has identified 12 “at-risk” countries for omicron. Passengers coming from these countries have to mandatorily undergo a Covid test on their arrival in India. Two per cent of people coming from other countries have to undergo a Covid test, based on random basis.
If they test positive, their swab samples are sent for genome sequencing.
Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/news/omicron-calcutta-medical-college-and-hospital-student-with-no-foreign-travel-history-infected/cid/1844872
