Covid: 17 more Omicron cases detected in India

Delhi, Rajasthan report first Omicron cases

JAIPUR/MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: India reported 17 more cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Sunday — nine persons in Rajasthan capital Jaipur, seven in Maharashtra's Pune district and a 37-year-old fully vaccinated man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania — taking the tally to 21 in the country.

Most of those who tested positive either recently arrived from African countries or were in contact with such people. With this, four states and the national capital have now reported cases of the potentially more contagious variant which has sparked a fresh alert across the world.

The first patient to test positive for Omicron in Delhi is a resident of Ranchi and had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2. He stayed in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a week, officials said.

The person is fully vaccinated and is currently admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital with mild symptoms, an official said.

He had to take a connecting flight to Ranchi, where he lives with his family. Since he gave his sample at the IGI Airport which came out positive, we admitted him to LNJP hospital, the official said.

Authorities are trying to locate and isolate 10 people who occupied the seats close to this passenger on the flight.

The nine people who tested positive in Jaipur include four members of a family who returned from South Africa recently.

Genome sequencing has confirmed that nine persons are infected with the omicron variant, Rajasthan health secretary Vaibhav Galriya said.