KARACHI: Pakistan reported its first Omicron case here on Wednesday. The case was detected in a 65-year-old woman who does not have a travel history and is now in isolation at her home.
The case was confirmed by the Media Coordinator of the Sindh Health Department Mehar Khursheed. According to her, the infected woman was provided treatment at Aga Khan Hospital and was later put in isolation in her house. The woman was unvaccinated.
According to the Karachi East District Health Office, the rapid response team has been alerted and has taken all the necessary actions following the commands of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) regarding vaccination, quarantine and prevention measures. The team is in contact with the patient’s family and tracing contact history of the woman.
The instruction to take necessary actions regarding micro-level lockdown is forwarded to the district deputy commissioner.
Earlier, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar had said that Omicron was quickly spreading all over the world and it was a matter of time before it reached Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Emergencies Director World Health Organisation (WHO) Michael Ryan has said that though the Omicron variant has a high transmission rate than the Delta variant, the current vaccination available was highly effective against the new variant.
Top US scientists and WHO on Tuesday said that Omicron could not fully evade the protection provided by the vaccinations.