Assam: 17 Foreign Returnees Test COVID-19 Positive Since Dec 1

A total of 17 international travellers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Assam since December 1. The positive results have come after the T-PCR tests were done upon arrival in the state.

However, no cases of Omicron have been reported so far in the state. Notably, most of the foreign returnees are testing COVID positive on the eighth day of stay in Assam ever since the state government tightened the surveillance on the international travellers arriving in the state.

According to a health department official, the dormant nature of the virus has been a worry as most of the foreign returnees have tested positive for the virus on the eighth day. According to the new protocol , international travellers need to go through mandatory testing after a ten-day quarantine.

According to reports, a total of 1658 international passengers entered Assam by air since December 1 and till Saturday 15 returnees tested positive for COVID-19, whereas two more in Tinsukia district have been infected with the virus.

The official said that only one of the 15 positive cases, among the foreign returnees reported till Saturday in Assam was symptomatic and the rest are asymptomatic.

Sources said that two foreign returnees, including a child were put on observation on detection of COVID. Both of them have now been discharged after testing negative.

The official further stated that the genome sequencing reports of around 10 returnees have been received by the state health department, but none of them have been tested with Omicron. The samples of the positive patients were initially sent to National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) at Kalyani in West Bengal but now the samples are being sent to the North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat.

Health officials also stated that the threat of Omicron persists in the state as most of the positive cases are returning from the UK, US, Europe, Saudi Arabia and African nations.

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