A passenger coming to India from South Africa is suspected to be infected with the new variant of COVID. Karnataka State Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday that the type of COVID identified in the body of the man was different from the Delta variant. Whether he is infected with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is being closely monitored.
The variant was identified after two South Africans arrived in Karnataka, India, earlier this month. Tests revealed that one of the two was infected with the delta type. But the other is affected with a different variant. The Karnataka health minister said the samples had been sent for genome sequencing for further testing.
However, K Sudhakar claims that India is well prepared to deal with the Omicron variant. He also mentioned that various labs were working across the country under the Insakog Laboratory Network to identify and research different types of COVID.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka health minister has called a meeting with health officials. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has called on the central government to block the entry of passengers from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong.
Karnataka’s health minister said, “For 9 months, only Delta has been seen like this. You are saying that the samples of the two infected people are of an Omicron type. I can’t say anything officially about this. I am in regular contact with officials of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and the Union Ministry of Health.”
Health Minister Sudhakar is a doctor by profession. He said he talked to his former classmates in South Africa about Omicron. They said that although Omicron spreads very fast, it is not as dangerous as the delta.
Infected people have nausea or vomiting, sometimes with increased heart rate. However, in this case, the taste-smell does not go away. As it is not very serious, such people do not have to be admitted to a hospital.
K Sudhakar said that the work of genome sequencing will be completed by 1 December and then the behaviour of Omicron will be known.
Meanwhile, Sameeran Pandey, head of the pathology department at ICMR, said that Omicron may have already arrived in India. He said there were fears that several flights arrived in India after Omicron was identified in South Africa on 9 November. Pandey also mentioned that there were some symptoms in the passengers.
In an interview with NDTV, he said, “I would not be surprised if a new genre is identified in India. As much as it is considered contagious, it is only a matter of time before it is recognised in India.”