Three Omicron cases confirmed in Jammu

JJ CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Dec 21: Jammu and Kashmir Health and Medical Education Department on Tuesday confirmed three cases of Omicron in Jammu.
“Three Omicron cases confirmed by NCDC, Delhi from a cluster in Jammu. Sample taken on November 30,” tweeted Health & Medical Education Department J&K.
“RTPCR testing of entire locality ordered,” it further tweeted.
A senior official of Health & Medical Education Department J&K wished not to be quoted confirmed UNI that three Omicron cases have been reported in Jammu city. “One case has been reported from the Bantalab area and two from the Talab Tillo area,” said an official.
Preventative rules
In view of the Omicron variant surge, J-K has made rigorous screening and Covid-19 RT-PCR test mandatory for international travellers.
The new directive stipulates that incoming travellers from “at-risk” nations will have to undergo home quarantine even if they are tested negative.
They should be tested again on day 8, and if tested negative will be advised to self-monitor for at least two weeks.
It said that any person found Covid-19 positive will have to undergo institutional quarantine and treated as per standard protocol.
A new variant of Covid-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on 25 November.
As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November this year.
On 26 November, the WHO named the new Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529 as ‘Omicron’.
The WHO has classified Omicron as a ‘variant of concern’.
To deal with this, several countries have imposed travel restrictions and local lockdown.
India has added several countries to the “at-risk” list from where travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in the country, including post-arrival testing for infection.
According to the Union health ministry, “at-risk” countries include those in Europe including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand and Israel.
Also, two percent of the passengers arriving on flights from other countries are being tested randomly.