A nine-year-old child, who returned from an overseas trip, tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in Mysuru on Thursday (December 23). This is the first Omicron case to be recorded in Mysuru.
District Health Officer. K.H. Prasad, who confirmed the case, said the patient is asymptomatic. “The child is in isolation and steps have been taken to subject all the contacts of the patient for mandatory tests,” he added.
Dr. Prasad told The Hindu that the swab samples of the child’s parents were negative but the family will be under observation. The repeat tests and genome sequencing of the contacts’ samples will be done. All the primary contacts and secondary contacts are being tracked by our teams, he added.
“The family was in isolation on its return from abroad. There is no need to panic over the case. The public are advised to follow the COVID-19 guidelines and recommended precautions. The two doses of vaccine are vital to fight the disease, and people should get the doses for their safety at the earliest,” the DHO advised.
Mysuru district reported 7 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the active case tally to 130. Post-Omicron outbreak, testing in the district has been stepped up with the health authorities given the target of carrying out about 5,000 tests daily. About 3,290 tests were done on Thursday, which is less than the target fixed. As many as 21 patients were discharged on Thursday with about 49 patients being treated under home isolation.
Among the positive cases reported on Thursday, two, aged between 11 and 17 are from Mysuru city.
Tests are also being carried out at places of tourist importance, including Mysuru palace. Inter-State travelers, even those carrying the vaccination certificates, are advised to get the test done for free on the palace premises. Rapid Antigen Test is done with a team from the Health Department putting up a counter for doing the tests following the detection of the new variant of COVID-19, which is described as a ‘variant of concern’.
