Delhi reports 10 new Omicron cases, total reaches 20

Delhi has reported 10 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday. With these fresh cases, the overall tally of Omicron cases in Delhi now stands at 20.

Ten of these 20 patients have been discharged, news agency PTI quoted Satyendar Jain as saying.

Satyendar Jain said 10 out of the 40 samples sent for genome sequencing tested positive for the new Omicron variant.

On Thursday, Satyendar Jain had said that many international travellers are turning out Covid-19 positive upon arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. He later said the Omicron variant of coronavirus has not spread in the community so far and the situation is under control.

Delhi’s first case of the Omicron variant was detected on December 5. He was discharged on Monday. He had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there, to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2. He stayed in Johannesburg in South Africa for a week and had mild symptoms.

Meanwhile, 40 people are currently admitted to the special facility at the Lok Nayak Hospital meant for isolating and treating suspected Omicron cases, Medical Director Suresh Kumar was quoted as saying.

Under new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for the passengers arriving from the “at-risk” countries and they are allowed to leave the airport only after the results come.

Also, 2 per cent of the passengers arriving on flights from other countries are being tested randomly.