KARACHI: Six more suspected cases of Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19, surfaced in Karachi on Thursday, ARY News reported, citing sources.
The sources in the provincial health department said the patients who are suspected to be carrying the Omicron variant have a travel history. Two of them arrived in the port city from Britain while the rest from South Africa where this strain of the deadly virus was first discovered, they added.
Also Read: Too soon to say if Omicron more transmissible than Delta: WHO
The sources said the patients’ samples have been sent to a private hospital for genome sequencing – a study that confirms the exact variant of the virus – and they have been moved to a quarantine centre.
On Dec 13, the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed Pakistan’s first case of Covid-19 Omicron variant in a woman patient from the port city.
Also Read: Balochistan reports 12 suspected cases of Omicron variant
In a Twitter statement, the NIH said it has been able to “confirm (via whole genome sequencing) that a recently suspected sample from Karachi is indeed the ‘Omicron variant’ of SARS-CoV2.”
“This is the first confirmed case but continued surveillance of suspected samples is in place to identify the trends.” Sindh had reported the first suspected case of Omicron variant on Dec 8.
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