In a shocking piece of news for Tamil Nadu, the state has reported its first case of the Omicron variant on Wednesday after the sample of a 47-year-old man had confirmed that he had contracted the variant. Along with him, his family members have also tested positive for the Covid-19 viral infection and they are also suspected to have contracted the variant. The development has put the state on high alert and the government has directed the hospitals to strengthen the health infrastructure.

According to Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, a 47-year-old man who had arrived from Nigeria, a few days back, along with six of his family members, has tested positive for the Omicron variant. He had arrived in Chennai from Nigeria via Doha on December 10 and along with him, six of his family members had also tested positive for the pandemic, however, he was confirmed to have been affected by the Omicron variant while his family members await results. 

The Health Minister said, "In the initial level of testing of their sampling, there was S-gene drop raising the suspicion of being infected by Omicron. Now, we have received the results sent from the National Institute of Virology. The passenger has tested positive for Omicron." The minister has stated that the 47-year-old man and his family members, who were asymptomatic, have been admitted to the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research in Chennai and they all are doing fine.

Responding to the condition of the family members of the Nigeria return, the health minister said, "With the result of the passenger confirmed, we suspect six of his family members, along with a 16-year-old child, also to be positive for Omicron." He asserted that all the members including the passenger are fully vaccinated due to which they were asymptomatic. He highlighted that the installation of the intense screening measures at the four international airports in Tamil Nadu had helped detect the case of Omicron variant in the state. 

"All the passengers arriving from high-risk countries must undergo RT-PCR tests while those passengers who arrive from non-risk countries are put to random sampling", he added and asserted that the state health department has installed more than one lakh beds that are readily available at the hospitals and has stepped up the efforts to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure in the state. Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said that the main request on behalf of the government is that they should follow the Covid-19 protocols in public places. 

He had appealed to the public to wear a facemask and receive vaccinations. He further said that Chief Minister MK Stalin has issued orders and a directive has been given to the district hospitals to strengthen the health infrastructure. "There is no necessity to panic and it is time for people to extend their cooperation by following the Covid-19 protocols", he added. On the national count, India has reported 73 cases of the Omicron variant so far as of Wednesday and the country has reported 12 new cases of Omicron on Wednesday alone with four cases each in Maharashtra and Kerala, two in Telangana, and one each in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.