Chennai: At least 24 more people have showed Omicron symptoms in Tamilnadu, following which their samples have been sent for testing.
Health Minister M Subramanian said till date all the 15,259 air passengers who arrived from 12 at-risk countries were tested in the State.
Of the 1,00,950 persons who landed from non-risk countries, the random tests among two per cent of them–2,870 persons were conducted. ‘In all, 18,129 persons were tested of which 114 were found positive for Covid-19’, he added.
Of this, the State Public Health Laboratory identified S-gene dropout in 57 samples. All samples were sent to INSACOG laboratories for confirmation, he said.
Subramanian said the National Institute of Virology, Pune had sent the results Wednesday night which confirmed that samples of 33 people were infected with Omicron variant, taking the total number of confirmed Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Tamilnadu to 34. The results of 23 samples were awaited, he said.
Except for two children in the below 18 years of age–who were not covered under the vaccination category–all 31 people were vaccinated, the Minister said.
Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said ‘a total of 45 people, who returned from 21 countries (nine at-risk and 12 non-risk countries), had tested positive on arrival at the entry point on the first day.’
He said a total of 48 people tested positive for Covid when they were tested again on the eighth day. A total of 4,835 contacts were traced of which 21 people were found to be positive for the infection.
A total of 114 persons tested positive for Covid-19 of which 23 had recovered after treatment and discharged, he added.
As on date, 79 people were admitted to government hospitals and 12 in private hospitals. Appealing to the people not to panic, Dr Radhakrishnan urged them to follow the Covid-19 safety protocols, which stressed the importance of getting both doses of the vaccine at the earliest.
He said all the district Collectors were asked to tighten surveillance, including in super-spreading areas.