In Karnataka, India’s 1st Omicron cases

Two infections reported in B’luru — a 66-year-old visitor  from South Africa and a doctor with no travel history

By Shyam Sundar Vattam  & Nischith N. | NT

Karnataka has the dubious honour of becoming the first state in India to report the detection of the first two cases of Omicron COVID-19 variant — both in the capital Bengaluru.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi on Thursday confirmed that one of the two infected patients was a visitor from South Africa, who had arrived in Bengaluru on November 20. This was confirmed by the state health minister Dr. K. Sudhakar in Bengaluru hours later.

The foreign national left the country for Dubai, UAE on November 28, officials told NT. None of his contacts – 24 primary contacts and 240 secondary contacts from a function they all attended – have tested positive. However, the second man to test positive for the Omicron variant is a doctor based in Bengaluru with no travel history. Five of his contacts – three primary contacts and two secondary contacts - have tested positive for the Covid variant. The patients, reported to be health workers from a medical facility in Bommanahalli, have been isolated and their samples sent for genome testing, as concern over the highly infectious strain set off citywide alarm.