Guj: Elderly fully-vaccinated man found infected with Omicron variant in Jamnagar on arrival from Zimbabwe

A 72-year-old man has been found infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Jamnagar city of Gujarat, days after he arrived in the state from Zimbabwe, a high-risk country, the health department said on Saturday.


PTI | Ahmedabad | Updated: 04-12-2021 21:55 IST | Created: 04-12-2021 21:55 IST
Guj: Elderly fully-vaccinated man found infected with Omicron variant in Jamnagar on arrival from Zimbabwe
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A 72-year-old man has been found infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Jamnagar city of Gujarat, days after he arrived in the state from Zimbabwe, a high-risk country, the health department said on Saturday. He was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a district official said. Gujarat's Commissioner of Health Jai Prakash Shivhare confirmed that the man has tested positive for the Omicron variant.

The 72-year-old man had arrived in Gujarat from Zimbabwe on November 28. He tested positive for coronavirus on December 2, after which his sample was sent for genome sequencing, Jamnagar district collector Saurabh Pardhi said. "Sore throat and weakness were his symptoms. In further checking, it was revealed that he had the Omicron variant. He was isolated after his sample tested positive. His condition is clinically stable and he is under medical observation," the collector said, adding that the infected patient had taken both doses of the vaccine.

He said the eight high-risk and 31 low-risk contacts of the infected man were tested. ''All of them have tested negative for the virus so far. They will be tested again after a few days. They have been asked to remain in home isolation," the collector said. The man, who hails from Jamnagar, has been living in Zimbabwe for the last many years. He arrived in Gujarat to meet his father-in-law. After he developed a sore throat and fever, his doctor advised him to get an RT-PCR test done, Jamnagar municipal commissioner Vijaykumar Kharadi had said. A private laboratory on Thursday informed civic authorities that the man's report came positive for coronavirus. Subsequently, he was shifted to the isolation ward at the Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital. Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel reviewed the situation in the wake of the first such case of the Omicron variant being detected in the state and directed officials to strictly follow the Central guidelines and the three-T formula of –test, track and treatment.

He held a high-level meeting with state authorities and directed them to follow the guidelines issued by the Centre for testing of international passengers coming from ''at risk'' countries, an official release said. The Omicron strain has been marked as a ''variant of concern'' by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the Centre, the countries designated as ''at-risk'' are European countries, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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