COVID threat rises in Uttar Pradesh; 4th Omicron case reported in Siddharthnagar

Raising COVID alarms in Uttar Pradesh, a 21-year-old UK returnee tested Omicron positive on Wednesday. As per reports, this is the 4th such case in the state and it thickens the chances of increased transmission across neighbouring districts as well. While the patient has been isolated, a containment zone has also been set up around his house, in the Uska Police Station area, to prevent any unprecedented spread, the Chief Medical Officer informed.

Antigen test at Delhi Airport had tested negative

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The 21-year-old man reportedly lives in Britain and landed at the Delhi International Airport on Sunday (December 26). Upon arrival, the passenger went through the mandatory COVID-19 screening for travelling from an 'at-risk' country, and he was allowed to go home after the antigen test came out negative. However, infection was later confirmed with a positive RT-PCR test, the CMO said.

It was only today that the Health Department of Delhi informed the district authorities, via an e-mail, that the youth’s report after genome sequencing has confirmed Omicron infection. He has been accordingly isolated at his home and is undergoing treatment. Targeted sanitisation work and contact tracing are also underway.

The entire incident spills horror for the UP which is already experiencing a COVID resurgence. As per official records, the state already witnessed a 100% positivity spike on Tuesday with as many as 80 infections adding to the tally. So far, the UP has logged in 17,11,049 infections since the onset of coronavirus pandemic last year.