Shimla: Himachal Pradesh has reported the first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
A woman (45) from Khalyar of Mandi had arrived in India from Canada on December 3 and was home isolated for 14 days. She had arrived in Shimla on 3rd December 2021 and her RTPCR test was done on 11th December. A report of the same was received on December 12, an official said.
Woman’s swab samples sent for genome sequencing on December 18 showed the presence of Omicron variant, a state government spokesperson has confirmed in a press statement.
The Government Spokesperson informed that 2,167 International passengers have arrived in the State as per the list shared by the Government of India from 20th November 2021 till now. He said 942 International passengers have been tested for Covid, of which 10 samples have been found positive. However, 420 International passengers were untraceable.
The state government has appealed to the public not to panic and asked to follow COVID appropriate behaviours such as wearing masks, maintaining social distance, frequently washing hands or using sanitisers, maintaining good ventilation.
