Raipur, January 5: A 52-year-old man from Bilaspur district, who returned from the UAE, became the first case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Chhattisgarh, health officials said on Wednesday.

The man, who recently returned from United Arab Emirates (UAE), had tested positive for coronavirus following which his sample was sent to the Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) for a genome sequencing test, an official statement said. Also Read | COVID-19 Surge in India: Over 6.3 Times Increase in Coronavirus Cases in Past 8 Days, Says Health Ministry.

The health department on Wednesday received the sample's report that confirmed the presence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, it added.

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