Odisha reports four new omicron cases, tally rises to eight

Four people who returned to Odisha from foreign countries were found to be infected with the omicron variant of COVID-19, a senior health department official said on Sunday.

Two of the new patients returned from Nigeria, while the other two came back from UAE, said Director of Health Service (DHS) Bijay Mohapatra.

With this, the state's omicron tally rose to eight, he said.

Odisha reported the first cases of omicron variant on December 21 as two persons who returned from foreign countries -- Nigeria and Qatar -- were found to be infected.

On December 23, two more cases of omicron were found as two people who returned from Nigeria tested positive.

One person, who was among the four new cases, has already tested negative, the official said.

There is no need to panic as the conditions of all the four are stable, Mohapatra said.

As per the state government's directive, all foreign returnees from "at-risk" as well as other countries are being tested, and the samples of those found positive are being sent for genome sequencing, he said.

The district administrations have been instructed to intensify surveillance on those returning from foreign countries to their areas, officials said.