Islamabad: The first suspected case of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Islamabad has been confirmed by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
The male patient, 47, has no prior international travel history and has been put in quarantine, confirmed the officials of the NIH on Sunday.
According to the gene-sequencing test and genomic behaviour of the virus, the patient is a confirmed case of Omicron, said Dr Zaeem Zia, the District Health Officer (DHO) of Islamabad said, adding that the patient was working in Islamabad and had travelled out of the city for work.
Dr Zia further said the COVID-19 variant was confirmed as Omicron and the health teams of the District Health department had traced 10 contacts of the patient and subsequently isolated/quarantined them.
The DHO also urged people to follow COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), get vaccinated and receive booster shots in case they were eligible.
Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat also confirmed the first case of Omicron virus in the capital city, adding that the patient did not have a history of travelling abroad but he did travel to Karachi and returned recently.
No Omicron case in Balochistan
Meanwhile, the 12 suspected cases of Omicron virus detected in Balochistan province have tested negative and the province so far is free of the new variant of COVID-19.
The man in charge of the Coronavirus Operation Cell for Balochistan Dr Naqeebullah Niazi said on Sunday that 32 cases had tested positive in Kalat district of Balochistan for COVID-19 out of which 12 had the signs of the Omicron variant. However, their gene-sequencing test report revealed they were infected with COVID-19 but did not carry the Omicron variant.
Pakistan reported its first suspected case of Omicron on December 8. Aga Khan University Hospital had confirmed the case as the new variant on December 13.
65 million fully vaccinated
Pakistan on Sunday announced over 65 million people have been fully vaccinated.
The government had set a target of 70 million vaccinations by the end of the year.
According to Pakistan’s coronavirus monitoring body the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) 65.149 million persons have been completely vaccinated while more than 92 million have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The country’s coronavirus positivity rate remained below 1 per cent registering 0.68 per cent positivity rate as 358 returned positive after 52,050 tests across the country. Only two persons died in the past 24 hours due to COVID-19 while there are 9,674 active cases of the virus in the country.
