Coronavirus Pandemic: Zimbabwe returnee tests positive for Omicron in Gujarat, India's 3rd case

Gujarat on Saturday 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.

This is the third case of the Omicron variant in the country. 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'.

Dozens of countries have imposed travel restrictions on the southern African nations since the mutation was discovered.

The new Omicron coronavirus variant has been confirmed in 23 countries and their number is expected to rise, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said.

India has also added several countries to the list from where travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in the country, including post-arrival testing for infection.

(ANI)