Health officials confirmed five cases of Omicron variant in KP
PESHAWAR
Three more persons died of Coronavirus as 41 new cases were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during the last 24 hours in the province, said the Health Department here on Thursday.
With three new deaths, the toll from the disease in the province has climbed to 5,941 while on the other hand total active cases have surged to 611. As many as 8,545 tests were conducted in the province.
According to daily Covid-19 updates, during the same period 26 patients have also been recovered from the disease, reaching the total number of the recovered persons in the province to 175,062.
It is pertinent to mention here that the new variant of coronavirus, Omicron has also infected five persons in KP.
Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) spokesperson Mr Sajjad told reporters that the hospital lab has confirmed Omicron virus in four members of the same family.
He said that on December 31, 2021, swab samples of 23 citizens of Peshawar were sent to Khyber Medical University, Public Health Reference Lab to find out the sequence of Corona variants.
There are two children aged 10 and 14 including a woman aged 35 and man 50 year old residents of Hayatabad Phase II Peshawar.
“The front line health workers of Khyber Teaching Hospital are fully prepared and all the facilities are available in Khyber Teaching Hospital for the patients,” he added.
The patients had no travel history, and it seemed the virus had already arrived in the provincial capital, he added. Three of them are male and two female.
Director Public Health Doctor Naik Dad in a video message said that the first case of Omicron reported in district Mansehra and five more from Hayatabad.
He said that district administration has been tasked to take necessary steps, adding that infected persons would be quarantined and if deemed necessary the streets where the cases surfaced would be put under smart lockdown to curtain the spread of Omicron to other people in the area. Doctor Naik Dad explained that the risk of spreading the Omicron variant to another member is higher compared to other variants like Delta. However, Omicron has very low symptoms compared to Delta, he added. Mr Naik Dad appealed for strict implementation of Coronavirus SOPs in public gatherings.
