Four more cases of COVID-19 caused by the virus variant Omicron have been confirmed in the State, taking the total number of Omicron cases to 11.
Omicron cases were confirmed in travellers from the U.K. (17 years) and Tunisia (44 years), who reached Thiruvananthapuram; Tanzania (37 years), who reached Malappuram; and Kenya (49 years), who reached Thrissur.
As Kenya and Tanzania are not included in the list of ‘high risk’ nations as categorised by the Centre, these persons were on self observation.
The 17-year-old who tested positive for Omicron in the capital had arrived with his parents and sister on December 9. All these persons, including the elderly grandmother, at home are on the primary contact list.
It was one of the random samples from travellers from nations not deemed as ‘high risk’ and sent for genomic sequencing which identified the traveller from Tunisia as Omicron positive.
The case in Malappuram is a native of South Karnataka, who had flown in to Kozhikode airport on December 13 and he was hospitalised as soon as he tested positive.
The Thrissur native flew from Kenya on December 11 to Sharjah and reached Kochi on December 12. She was on self observation but a test done on December 13 found her to be Omicron-positive. Her mother, her sole primary contact, has now tested positive for COVID-19.
With the number of Omicron cases steadily going up in the State and many cases now being reported in persons who flew in from nations not deemed as ‘high risk,’ everyone should be careful about observing COVID-19 protocol, the Health department said.
Those on self observation should avoid going to crowded public places or public functions for 14 days.
