KARACHI: The first “suspected” case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Pakistan has been reported in Karachi, Sindh Health Department said Thursday.
The variant was detected in an unvaccinated woman who was admitted for treatment at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Mehar Khursheed, media coordinator at the department said.
“We are awaiting the results of the final (genome sequencing) confirmatory test, which will take a few days. We have reported the suspected patient to the health department for their action. The patient did well and has been discharged,” the AKUH spokesperson Anam Haleem said in the statement.
A notification from the District Health Office (DHO) in Karachi East said the 65-year-old has been discharged from the facility, however, and is currently isolated at home.
The patient had travelled abroad, an official told Reuters without giving any details of the location, but added that contact tracing was underway.
The notification said a rapid response team was “taken on board immediately” to trace, test, quarantine and vaccinate to control the variant’s spread in line with the guidelines issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Two of the woman’s contacts, who also tested positive for the coronavirus but do not have the Omicron variant, are also admitted to the hospital, the notification added.
The DHO has also requested Karachi East Deputy Commissioner Syed Muhammed Ali Shah to impose targeted quarantines in the vicinity.
Earlier today, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho stated that “Omicron is very transmissible but deaths or serious [conditions] have not been seen in recent reports coming from South Africa (where the variant was first detected). There is no cause for concern. We are conducting a genomic study which will take one or two weeks.”
It would be confirmed whether the woman was infected with the Omicron variant once the study was completed, she added.
“The virus also spreads because people are not vaccinated. This woman was not vaccinated either. I am appealing to you to get the second dose and if you are fully vaccinated, get the booster dose. It can protect you,” she stressed.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad said the sample of the coronavirus patient was “not yet confirmed to be Omicron via whole-genome sequencing” which would be performed after the NIH received the sample.
First detected in November, the Omicron variant has now been reported in 57 countries and continues to spread rapidly in South Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
But the latest epidemiological report from WHO said given the Delta variant remains dominant, particularly in Europe and the United States, it is still too early to draw any conclusions about the global impact of Omicron.
Data is still too limited to know with certainty whether Omicron changes the severity of the illness. As of December 6, all 212 confirmed Omicron cases across 18 European Union nations were classed as asymptomatic or mild.
But WHO said: “Even if the severity is equal or potentially even lower than for Delta variant, it is expected that hospitalisations will increase if more people become infected”.
“Further information is needed to fully understand the clinical picture of those infected with the Omicron variant,” the report said.
OMICRON ‘INEVITABLE’ IN PAKISTAN
In November, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, warned the Omicron variant will “inevitably” find its way to Pakistan, adding the nation had “only a few weeks” to contain the latest threat.
“The emergence of new variant makes it even more urgent to vaccinate all eligible citizens 12 years and older,” he said.
“It is my appeal to people, particularly those who’ve gotten one dose to get the second dose because this is one effective thing we have to protect ourselves from the danger of this variant,” the minister added.
The alert followed a WHO communiqué warning its 194 member states the variant is likely to spread internationally, posing a “very high” global risk where Covid-19 surges could have “severe consequences” in some areas.
The UN agency urged them to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and to “ensure mitigation plans are in place” to maintain essential health services.
“Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” the WHO said. “The overall global risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron is assessed as very high.”
Earlier on December 6, 2021 Pakistan placed travel ban on nine countries, adding them to a list of Category C countries in order to try to contain the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the new entrants to the Category C list include Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, Poland and Zimbabwe. While South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and Hong Kong were already placed in the list.
The NCOC took this decision in light of emergence of Omicron variant in several countries, prompting nervous governments to impose tough travel restrictions to try to keep it at bay while scientists race to establish how dangerous it might be.
Earlier in December, Hong Kong widened its ban on non-residents entering the city to include visitors who have been to Australia, Canada, Israel or six European countries in the past 21 days.
While Japan, which although has not yet detected any Omicron infections, said it was reimposing border controls.
According to an NCOC update, the health and testing protocols for inbound travel from Category C nations include a complete ban on inbound travel from Category C countries.
It said “essential” travel from these countries would require an exemption certificate from a dedicated exemption committee with health protocols in place.
The protocols would entail one to be fully vaccinated, with all passengers, six-year and above, to have a negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test report — maximum 48 hours prior to departure.
In addition, passengers who have the required exemption would undergo a rapid antigen test (RAT) on arrival and only negative RAT passengers would be allowed to proceed.
For countries in Category B — Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Russia, the USA, the UK, Thailand, France, Austria, Afghanistan and Turkey — all inbound passengers are required to be fully vaccinated.
Furthermore, passengers from these nations are also required to have a negative PCR test (maximum 48 hours old).
The NCOC said health authorities will also conduct random RAT testing of passengers coming from Category B countries.
“RAT negative cases will be allowed to proceed. RAT positive cases will be quarantined for 10 days,” the body said.
“RT-PCR test of all RAT positive quarantined passengers will be undertaken on the eight day of quarantine. In case of a negative result, pax will be allowed to proceed home.
However, in case of a positive result, the passenger will either undergo additional quarantine period or will be shifted to hospital as per the advice of health authorities.”
For countries in Category A, all visitors should be fully vaccinated with the same PCR requirements as their counterparts in the B and C categories.
The forum also approved a number of guidelines to “facilitate the return” of Pakistanis stranded abroad.
According to the statement, all Pakistanis can travel from category C countries till December 15. However, the health protocols will be applicable to them.
Pakistanis who were unable to get themselves vaccinated abroad because of certain conditions, including expired visa or illegal immigration, pending court cases, medical conditions, pregnancy or partial vaccination from Pakistan, have been exempted from the requirement to be fully vaccinated, provided they provide proof to airline and immigration authorities prior to boarding, the government body said.
