Alarm bells as 32 suspected Omicron cases reported in Kalat
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Pakistan needs to sound alarm bells as Covid-19 new variant Omicron has descended on the country’s turf. As many as 32 suspected cases of the new variant have been reported from the Balochistan area of Kalat, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to the health department, the new cases emerged after a patient tested positive for the virus. During a two-day testing in the area, 32 more suspected cases of the Omicron variant appeared in Kalat district.
The health department said that the samples of the suspected Omicron patients have been sent to the NIHD, Islamabad for genome sequencing.
The health department has directed the district administration to trace the affected patients and isolate them.
On December 9, the first Omicron variant case was detected in Karachi by doctors at a private hospital.
Doctors at the Aga Khan Hospital confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant in the sample of a woman who came to Karachi from abroad. The Sindh Health Department also confirmed that the woman recently returned from a foreign tour and her coronavirus test came out positive with the Omicron variant.
The WHO on Tuesday urged nations to redouble their efforts to end this pandemic warning that ‘a new storm coming’ amid Omicron’s lightning global dash.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called upon the world to redouble efforts to help end the pandemic, calling for New Year events to be canceled because it was better to "celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later."
President Joe Biden on Tuesday told Americans worried about the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant that the country was "prepared" to fight it, as Israel -- which pioneered the use of Covid vaccine boosters -- announced fourth shots for those over 60 and health workers.
Omicron, now present in dozens of countries, appears to be more infectious than earlier coronavirus strains, despite early indications that it does not cause a more severe form of Covid-19 than the Delta variant.
Its lightning dash around the globe has led some governments to reimpose restrictions ahead of the holidays, dampening hopes the worst of the pandemic is over, or to re-evaluate their plans to halt the spread.
In Washington, Biden announced a raft of new measures as the United States battles the latest surge in Covid-19 cases, including shipping half a billion free home tests -- starting in January -- in the wake of a serious Christmastime testing crunch.
WHO regional director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P Kluge sounded a somber note of caution.
"Within weeks, Omicron will dominate in more countries of the region, pushing already stretched health systems further to the brink. Omicron is likely to become the dominant variant circulating in our region," Kluge said.
Paris and UK have already scrapped their New Year celebrations, and Germany slapped a limit of 10 people on private parties, closed nightclubs and banned spectators from major events including soccer matches.
Reporter Rizwan Saeed
With inputs from AFP