SHILLONG, Jan 4: The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has finally hit Meghalaya with five cases of the ‘variant of concern’ being detected in the state on Tuesday. Three cases were detected in East Khasi Hills while two cases were confirmed in Ri-Bhoi.
In the first case detected in East Khasi Hills, a 31-year-old returnee from the United States is currently in home isolation at Happy Valley. She has been inoculated with Moderna vaccine. The third patient, a 44-year-old nun working at the Nazareth Hospital, had recently returned from New Delhi. She has been vaccinated with Covishield and is in home isolation.
The third patient, a 13-year-old resident of Assam, had registered for entry at the Umling entry point and had been tested for COVID-19 there, but he did not show up at the guest house he had booked. Incidentally, records at Umling show that he had moved out of the state in the last week of December before his Omicron infection was confirmed.
Two patients from Saiden area in Ri-Bhoi, whose samples were tested positive for the Omicron variant, have no travel history. The two women, aged 53 and 46 years, are also under home isolation, officials said. There is no record of their vaccination as of now.
An official from the Health department said that the five persons had tested positive through RT-PCR some days ago and their samples were sent for genome sequencing to determine the variant of the virus.
The report received on Tuesday confirmed the Omicron variant, the official said, adding that all samples of COVID-19 positive persons in the state were being sent for genome sequencing.
The Health official also said that most of the Omicron infected patients have already completed 4-8 days of isolation and all their contacts will be tested.
32 new cases in state
The state on Tuesday recorded 32 fresh cases of COVID-19 while one more patient succumbed due to the viral infection taking the death toll in the state to 1,485.
The active tally stands at 97 while 83,299 people have recovered from the viral infection including 7 on the day. 30 fresh cases were reported in East Khasi Hills and two in West Garo Hills.
