Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India] December 4 (ANI): A 72-year-old man who arrived from Zimbabwe and tested positive with COVID-19 new variant Omicron is in isolation and is stable, confirmed Dr Sourabh Paridhi, District Collector, Jamnagar.

"On Nov 28, a 72 yr old man who had arrived from Zimbabwe tested COVID-19 positive. After studying genome sequencing, the Omicron variant was confirmed. The patient is in isolation and is stable. We're following the SOP to tackle the situation," Sourabh Pardhi in a press conference.

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A micro containment zone has been made where he is living, said Manoj Aggarwal, ACS, Health and Family Welfare Department, Gujarat.

"A person is found omicron positive in Jamnagar. We've isolated him and are monitoring him. A micro containment zone has been made where he is living. In the area, we will do the tracing, testing of people," Aggarwal told the media persons.

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Earlier on Saturday, Gujarat reported its first case of new COVID 19 variant Omicron in Jamnagar, informed the state's health department. "A person who came from Zimbabwe was infected with Omicron. His sample has been sent to Pune," an official said.

The first cases of Omicron were reported in Karnataka. A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25.

As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.

On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. The WHO has classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern'. (ANI)

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