12 New Suspected Cases of Omicron Reported in Balochistan, say Health Officials
by Hamna Bano
SHARES
Out of those 32, 12 people residing in Kalat showed symptoms of the new Omicron variant.
Dr. Naqibullah Niazi Head of Covid Operations Cell stated that the patients are isolated for now. The patient's samples have been sent to Islamabad to be tested at the National Institute of Health. The confirmation of the presence of the variant will be announced after the gene sequencing.
Head of Operations Cell (Covid) Dr Naqibullah Niazi said the cases were from the town of Kalat, adding that the samples were sent to NIHD in Rawalpindi, where the presence of the variant would be confirmed after testing. https://t.co/EXLWZHxmqu
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) December 22, 2021
It is to be remembered that the gene sequencing of the first case of Omicron was done in a total of 5 days. The case was detected on December 8, 2021, and got confirmed on the 13th December 2021. It was said afterward that no other case is expected.
However, on the 18th of December, another case emerged of a 35-year-old man who visited Karachi from the United Kingdom. However, the genome has been sent to the National Institute of Health for the purpose of verification.
It has been stated by the Federal Planning Minister of Pakistan Mr. Asad Umar that “the arrival of the Omicron variant is unavoidable and a matter of time.” Pakistan's Government has put a ban on travel from six southern African countries. These include Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Hong Kong. Nine more countries were added later and the number extended to 13 later on.
The National Command and Operating Center have identified 13 countries in category B that includes, United States, Germany, Mexico, Azerbaijan, United Kingdom, Thailand, France, Afghanistan, Turkey, Tobago, Trinidad, Russia, and Srilanka. All of the passengers are expected to be fully vaccinated and children above the age of six are expected to have a negative PCR test report before 48 hours of boarding.
