40-year-old South Africa returnee tests Omicron Positive in Nagpur; Maha's tally mounts to 18

Mumbai, Dec 12: A 40-year-old Nagpur man tested positive for Omicron variant of coronavirus after returning from a West African country, taking states tally to 18.

"The man, a local resident, came from a country in West Africa around eight days back. On his arrival, he tested positive for COVID-19. After that he was admitted to a city hospital and his sample was sent for genome sequencing. The report that came today confirmed that he is infected with the Omicron variant," Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) commissioner Radhakrishnan B told PTI.

But all his contacts have tested negative for the infection, he said. The patient's condition is stable and he is keeping well, the commissioner said, adding, "We will be monitoring him closely."

Earlier in the day, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh reported their first case of Omicron, while Karanataka also recorded one more case each of the COVID-19 variant, taking the countrywide tally to 37.

A 20-year-old fully vaccinated man who arrived in Chandigarh from Italy to meet his relatives and a 34-year old foreign traveller, who came from Ireland to Mumbai and then to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, have tested positive for the variant.

A man who arrived from South Africa became the third person to test positive for the COVID-19 variant in Karnataka.

Till now, Omicron has been detected in Maharashtra (18), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Karnataka (3) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and in Union Territories of Delhi (2) and Chandigarh (1).

The Omicron variant was first detected in India in Bengaluru with two people testing positive for it comprising a South African national of Indian origin and a doctor.

The new variant has been classified as 'variant of concern by the World Health Organisation.

with PTI inputs