Pakistan reported its first case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Thursday.
According to the Sindh Health Department, a private hospital in Karachi reported the first case of the variant in a 65-year-old female patient.
The health department disclosed that the patient had arrived in Pakistan from abroad, adding that the patient does not have any travel history.
It said the patient has been sent home to isolate. The patient has no symptoms of the virus and is unvaccinated.
Health authorities said that they were trying to figure out the patient’s contact tracing as well.
Deputy commissioner East Karachi has been asked to impose a micro-smart lockdown, added the health department.
Meanwhile, Sindh Parliamentary Health Secretary Qasim Siraj Soomro told a private news channel that it was imminent that Omicron would reach Pakistan as flights are continue.
“At the international level, several PCR tests were not positive in patients who were later diagnosed with Omicron infection,” he added.
Pakistan imposed on Monday restrictions on in-bound passengers to prevent the new COVID-19 variant from coming to Pakistan.
The measures were announced after a meeting of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) that took stock of the prevalent COVID-19 situation across the globe in order to revise the policy for categorisation of air travel and the Category C list.
