Telangana passenger from UK found negative for Omicron, results of12 other awaited

Hyderabad: A woman who arrived at the international airport here from Britain last week was on Monday found negative for the new coronavirus variant, Omicron.

The 35-year old woman had tested positive for COVID-19 in the RT-PCR test conducted at the airport upon her arrival.

She was admitted to the state-run Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) here for institutional quarantine and treatment after she was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Her samples were sent for genome sequencing to ascertain whether she was infected with the Omicron variant.

The genome sequencing report showed her to be negative for Omicron, state Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao said on Monday.

The genome sequencing results of 12 other international passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 after their arrival were awaited, he said.

The state government has strengthened the testing mechanism at the Hyderabad international airport, among other measures, in the wake of 'Omicron' threat.

RT-PCR tests are being conducted on passengers arriving from the 11 countries which have been declared at risk by the Centre.