Three more foreign returnees, one from the USA and two from the UK, have tested positive for Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to health officials.
The district administration has unveiled micro-containment action plan in Ongole and Chirala in the wake of a software engineer from the UK and his seven-year-old son testing positive for the new coronavirus variant as also a 42-year-old man from the USA who had returned to Lawyerpet in Ongole in Prakasam district.
Of the 17 samples sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, for genome sequencing, so far five persons with foreign travel history have tested positive for the new variant and three others tested negative.
The results of nine other foreign returnees were awaited, COVID Management Centre Coordinator B. Thirumala Rao said.
All the primary contacts of the foreign returnees who had tested positive are isolating at home. A mandal-level task force with officials drawn from the departments of health, revenue and police had been constituted to ensure that the foreign returnees strictly followed the norms, Mr. Thirumala Rao said.
The health officials found many of the foreign returnees tested negative during the first time. But some of them tested positive when tested again after a week. In some cases, foreign returnees had moved to Hyderabad and other places without informing the health officials, making it difficult for the authorities to monitor their health condition.
District tally
Meanwhile, seven more persons tested positive for COVID in Prakasam district in the last 24 hours ending 9 a.m. on Wednesday taking the number of active cases to 24. In SPSR Nellore district, the active caseload went up to 130 as 30 persons tested positive for the disease during the period.
