AIZAWL: At least 62 cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Mizoram for the first time in the state since the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant was first discovered in southern Africa in November and spread to the country in December last year, an official said.
Official spokesperson on COVID-19 Dr Pachuau Lalmalsawma said that the state health department on Monday received the results of 122 samples sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in West Bengal for genome sequencing in January this year.
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The samples were collected from COVID-19 positive patients from Aizawl, Khawzawl, Kolasib, Saitual and Serchhip districts, he said.
“Of the 122 samples, 62 samples, all from Aizawl district, have come out positive for Omicron variant of COVID-19,” Pachuau, who is also the state nodal officer of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) said.
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Besides, 12 samples have come out positive for Delta variant and 18 others have tested positive for Delta sub-variants among the 122 samples, he said.
None of the samples collected from Khawzawl, Kolasib, Saitual and Serchhip came out positive for Omicron, he said.
Pachuau said that at least 300 samples of COVID-19 patients were sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics for genome sequencing on February 12 and results are awaited.
Results of some samples sent in January are also yet to be received, he added.
Mizoram, on Tuesday, logged as many as 2022 new COVID-19 cases at a positivity rate of 25.54 percent, according to the state health department.