KARACHI: The new omicron sub-variant was detected in a patient who arrived in Pakistan from Qatar, a senior health official said on Wednesday.
Pakistan announced on Monday it had detected the omicron descendent in samples collected from incoming passengers at airports, following which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called to “immediately restore” the country’s central pandemic response body, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC). The body was disbanded last month after a steady decline in coronavirus cases.
“Yes, [the omicron sub-variant] was detected in a Pakistani traveler from Qatar,” Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, Director-General of Health, said in a text message to Arab News. “He had mild symptoms and recovered. All contacts tested negative.”
While Safdar said that there was no need to panic, he stressed staying vigilant regarding the new sub-variant.
The federal government and provinces had agreed on three key decisions in a meeting chaired by health minister Abdul Qadir Patel on Tuesday, Safdar said.
“[These are to] advocate and encourage COVID testing to pick up early circulation,” he said. “Watch for any clustering of cases for an in-depth investigation which will include genetic sequencing and focus on vaccination, including boosters, to keep the population protected.”
In the last 24 hours, 66 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Pakistan, with one death.
The new omicron sub-variant has caused a surge in coronavirus infections in many countries across the world, particularly the United States. Considered more contagious, it is a spinoff of the omicron virus first reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa in November 2021.
