QUETTA: Health authorities in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province said on Wednesday 12 suspected cases of omicron coronavirus had been reported in Kalat, adding that the samples had been dispatched to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad to ensure their right diagnosis.
The omicron variant was first detected in South Africa and is said to be highly transmissible, causing severe infection among young people. Media reports indicate that the new form of virus has spread across 89 countries.
Pakistan reported its first omicron case in Karachi on December 13.
The provincial health department in Balochistan said the suspected patients from Kalat had a travel history to Hub which located right next to Karachi.
“We received 32 samples from Kalat for testing on December 15,” Dr. Naqib Niazi, head of COVID-19 operations in Balochistan, told Arab News. “Twelve patients, including a woman, exhibited signs of omicron. So, we sent their samples to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad for gene sequencing to confirm the presence of the variant among the suspected individuals.”
Niazi said the province did not have an advanced lab where new variants of the virus could be detected with certainty.
According to the World Health Organization, there is consistent evidence that omicron has a substantial growth advantage over delta and other coronavirus variants. The world health body has urged its member states to gear up their vaccination campaigns to prevent the spread of the new virus strain.
“Out teams visited the patients in the morning and found them in a stable condition,” Dr. Muhammad Noorzai, deputy district health officer in Kalat, told Arab News. “None of them had any signs of cough or illness, though the suspected patients have gone into self-quarantine. We have requested them to avoid meeting other people until we get the reports from NIH.”
According to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the country’s top pandemic response body, Pakistan has reported 1,292,047 coronavirus cases with 28,892 related deaths since the emergence of COVID-19.
While Balochistan has reported 33,606 coronavirus cases, it has the lowest vaccination rate compared to other provinces.
“We recently launched a 10-day vaccination campaign in all 35 districts of the province to immunize as many people as possible.” Dr. Niazi said. “Kalat has the highest number of vaccinated people since 60 percent of its population has been immunized until now.”
Sardar Abdul Rehman Kethran, Balochistan administration’s spokesperson, told Arab News the government had been utilizing all available resources to improve the pace of its vaccination program in the entire province.
“We are trying to access people in every corner of Balochistan to carry forward the immunization campaign while utilizing all available resources,” he added.