Karnataka reports its third case of Omicron, India's tally increases to 36

Karnataka Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K informed that a 34-year-old returnee from South Africa has tested positive for the new COVID-19 variant.

File Photo (IANS)

New Delhi: Karnataka on Sunday (December 12, 2021) reported its third case of the Omicron variant and the country's tally has now increased to 36.

Karnataka Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K informed that a 34-year-old returnee from South Africa has tested positive. 

"He is isolated and being treated in a government hospital. Five primary and 15 secondary contacts have been traced and their samples have been sent for testing," he added.

Karnataka, notably, was the first state in India to record the infections of the new variant of COVID-19. Both the patients had mild symptoms.

Of the two cases, one was a 66-year-old South African man who came to Bengaluru on November 20 and left India after testing negative. The other was a 46-year-old man who is a doctor - an anaesthetist - at a hospital in Bengaluru and had tested positive on November 22. He had no travel history to South Africa or any other country.

Earlier in the day, two fresh cases of Omicron were found in Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh. 

In Chandigarh, a 20-year-old man from Italy tested positive, while in Andhra Pradesh, a 34-year old man from Ireland was diagnosed with the new variant.