NONGPOH, Jan 5: The Omicron patients of Ri-Bhoi district’s Saiden village have refused to accept the reports of the state Health Department that they have been infected with the new COVID-19 variant.
The Health Department had on January 4 said two of the five people found infected with the Omicron variant were from the Ri-Bhoi district while two others were from the East Khasi Hills district. The fifth was a tourist from Assam.
“I am shocked and surprised to know that I have been declared as Omicron positive despite feeling fit and healthy,” one of the Saiden residents marked infected by the COVID-19 variant told reporters on Wednesday.
She said she had gone to the Nongpoh Civil Hospital for treatment after experiencing a mild fever on December 23. Her swab sample for testing was taken the next morning and the report that evening said she was COVID-19 positive.
“I went for home isolation after the report and followed all the COVID-19 protocols as instructed by the health officials,” she said.
But after her home isolation period was over, she received information that she had been infected with the COVID-19 variant.
She claimed the health officials did not retake her sample for testing after declaring her Omicron-infected.
The second woman from the same village declared Omicron positive had been fully vaccinated. She followed the same routine as the other woman after her test report on December 23.
The two women said they did not visit anywhere other than moving from their houses to their fields for farming activities.
The village leaders led by the headman, SF Lyngdoh and Seng Samla Shnong president Habamut Lyngdoh said they came to know about the Omicron cases from social media platforms and not from the officials concerned. They said the news affected them mentally, but asserted the two women had no travel history.
“The people from adjoining villages have been avoiding ours since the news of Omicron spread like wildlife on Tuesday,” one of the leaders said, adding that some women were denied micro-financing by banking officials after the Omicron reports.
The village Dorbar and the Seng Samla Shnong have asked the government, the Health Department specifically, to put all doubts about the Omicron cases aside.
