The new variant of Corona has slowly started spreading in the country.
A tourist who arrived in Agra from Thiruvananthapuram was tested for Covid-19 at the Agra Cantonment railway station, officials said on Saturday.
His report has come positive. This has increased the possibility of possible presence of new JN.1 variant in Agra city.
On this matter, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Arun Srivastava said, “The sample collected at Agra Cantonment Railway Station for rapid antigen test has turned out positive.
During efforts to reach the tourist his phone was initially found to be switched off. After this, when he was contacted, he had reached Dholpur in Rajasthan.”
The tourist was instructed to report to the Chief Medical Officer in Dholpur. Dr Srivastava further said, “The tourist’s sample has been sent to Lucknow for RT-PCR and genome sequencing to determine the presence of the JN.1 variant.”
This is the first case of the Omicron variant detected nearly eight months after it was last detected in Agra on May 9. All health care centers in the city have been informed and provided with rapid antigen test kits.
Dr. Ankur Goyal, head of the microbiology department of Sarojini Naidu Medical College, has emphasized on the presence of Covid-19 in Agra.
He said, “The active variants are mostly sub-variants of the Omicron variant. They rarely require hospitalization. “Despite this, it is important to follow safety measures like wearing masks and maintaining hand hygiene.”
Expressing concern over the tourist’s activities, Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber President Prahlad Agarwal said, “It is worrying that the infected tourist kept roaming in Agra and traveled to Dholpur before getting information about his Covid-positive status.”