Another suspected case of Omicron variant reported in Karachi

KARACHI: Health authorities in Karachi Friday confirmed detection of a another ‘strongly-suspected’ case of Omicron variant of Covid-19, saying the sample of a person who arrived from the United Kingdom had been handed over to the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for its confirmation.

“A 35-year old man who had arrived in Karachi on December 08 was tested positive for Covid-19 and he was asked to get quarantined at a local hotel in Saddar. This man slipped from the hotel but his Covid-19 sample sent to AKU suggested that he was infected with the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2,” an official of the Sindh Health Department told The News on Friday.

Authorities in Pakistan have already detected Omicron variant in Karachi when a 65-year-old woman from the Solider Bazaar area of the city with no travel history, was found infected with the new variant. The woman recovered completely while none of her family members were found infected with the Omicron variant.

The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) officials also confirmed to The News that they had found the same ‘signature mutations’ of the Omicron variant in a sample of a man who had arrived from abroad and now they were going for its Whole Genome Sequencing for the confirmation of the new variant.

“We had a suspected case which needs further confirmation. Now we are performing whole genome sequencing for confirmation. We screen samples for the special Omicron signature mutations using specific PCR assays. Then we run genomic sequencing on the sample for

confirmation,” Dr. Zahra Hassan, Professor of Molecular Pathology at AKUH, said.

She said that the sample of a 35-year-old man from the UK was the only sample they were suspecting of having Omicron variant and added that the full genome sequencing was very expensive and takes up to a week to run and analyse. Giving details of the person suspected of carrying Omicron variant, Sindh Health department officials said the person was currently admitted to the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town. Although, he had been tested negative for Covid-19 PCR test now but they were awaiting for the result of his whole genome sequencing for confirmation of the Omicron variant.

“This man was asked to remain in quarantine at a hotel in Saddar but he slipped. We sent teams at his residential address but the place was locked and nobody was there. We used the help of intelligence agencies to track him and now he has been put in quarantine at the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town”, the official added.

To a query, he said staff of local hotel in Saddar and those in the contact of this person were being traced but added it was feared that the Omicron variant was circulating in the community and more such cases could be detected in the society in the days to come.