Shimla, Dec 26(UNI) National Centre for Disease Control New Delhi confirmed the first first case of Omicron COVID variant after a woman belonging to Mandi district tested positive for the new variant here on Sunday.
Health department spokeswoman said that nine samples of COVID-19 cases were sent for genome sequencing to NCDC(National Centre for Disease Control )New Delhi.
One 45-year-old woman had arrived on December 18 in Mandi from Canada who tested positive for COVID-19 and was on Sunday confirmed to have been infected by Omicron variant.
The omicron positive woman had undergone RTPCR on Saturday which came out negative however her Omicron genome sequencing tested positive. The woman have taken double dose of COVID Vaccine.
The spokesperson said that all her three contacts however, tested negative.
However results from eight other samples are still awaited.
The health authorities is sending more samples for sequencing to NCDC, spokesperson added.
State Government has decided to revise the COVID restrictions on December 31 as during last one and half months no charge was brought about in the existing restrictions which was eased out to a great extent.
This Capital Town is likely to see a footfall of more than five lakh tourists on the occasion of New Year as Met Office forecast snowfall in the many tourist resorts of the state.
UNI ML ACL1539