Bhubaneswar: Four people who returned to Odisha from abroad were found infected with Omicron Covid-19 variants, said a senior health department official on Sunday.
Two new patients returned from Nigeria, while the other two returned from the UAE, said Director of Health Services (DHS) Bijay Mohapatra.
With this, the calculation of the state omicron rose to eight, he said.
Odisha reported the first case of the Omicron variant on December 21 as two people who returned from abroad – Nigeria and Qatar – found infected.
On December 23, two cases of Omicron were found as two people who returned from Nigeria tested positively.
One person, which is among the four new cases, has been negatively tested, the official said.
No need to panic because of the fourth stable condition, said Mohapatra.
In accordance with the direction of the state government, all return to foreigners from “risky” and other countries are being tested, and the sample found positive is being sent for genome sequencing, he said.
The district administration has been instructed to intensify supervision of those who return from foreign countries to their regions, officials said.