PESHAWAR: The second case of South African variant of Coronavirus, Omicron, has been deducted in Karachi, however, the patient reportedly escaped from the quarantine center.
According to Health Department sources, a 35-year-old man, who recently returned from Britten, tested positive for the virus after conducting his genome sequencing. The government has imposed travel ban on Category C countries because of spike in Omicron variant but the UK does not fall into that category.
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Health department sources also said that genome sequencing of 5 out of 19 people infected with Coronavirus is yet to be conducted.
The Health department officials said that the person affected by Omicron escaped from the hotel quarantine. From the airport, the health department staff transferred him to a private hotel on Shahra-e-Faisal. The Sindh Health department said that it was the responsibility of the Home Department, police and the concerned deputy commissioner to provide security to the quarantine centers. The reports said that 38 people have so far escaped from the quarantine due to lack of security and now there are 19 people staying at the quarantine.
On 13 December, the National Institute of Health has confirmed the case after analyzing the samples obtained from the suspected patient on 8 December in Karachi. The health department said that that the patient has been isolated at home and her health was improving.
The Omicron variant was first reported in South Africa last month. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Omicron as an ‘extremely fast-moving’ variant and has included it in the Delta variant category. Khyber Paktunkhwa business community has urged the health authorities to increase the number of booster shot points in the province to stop the spread of the Omicron in the provinc.