Amid fears of the new Omicron variant, four more travellers from 'at-risk' countries tested COVID-19 positive on arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Thursday, officials said. Three out of the 243 people on the Air France flight that landed at the Delhi airport around 12 midnight tested positive for COVID-19, an official said.
One more person travelling with 195 others on a flight from London was found to be infected with the COVID-19 infection, the official said. The samples of the infected people have been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control for genome sequencing.
This precaution is being taken to ascertain if the infected people are carrying the new Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa and which has been classified as a 'variant of concern' by the World Health Organisation. A total of eight people from 'at-risk' countries have tested positive for COVID-19 since Tuesday midnight.
All the eight COVID-19 positive travellers and two other passengers who showed 'COVID-like symptoms' have been admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) in Delhi. A dedicated ward has been set up at the Lok Nayak Hospital for isolating and treating such patients.
The countries designated as 'at-risk' are European countries, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel. As per the government's new travel rules, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from the 'at-risk' countries and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come.
