7 passengers from Nigeria admitted to Chennai hospital for suspected Omicron variant

Seven passengers from Nigeria have been admitted to the Kings Institute of Preventive Medicine in Chennai for suspected Omicron variant, Tamil Nadu Health Minister M Subramanian said on Tuesday.

The Nigerians, according to health department officials, had landed at the Chennai airport a couple of days ago and were tested for Covid -19 and the RT-PCR test revealed that their test had 'S' gene dropout.

However, the health department said that all are asymptomatic and under observation.

The Nigerians had landed at Chennai international airport via Doha, Qatar, and one of them was subjected to a random RT- PCR test which revealed the presence of 'S' gene dropout, which is an early indicator of Omicron variant.

After the 47-year-old man tested the presence of 'S' gene dropout, all the six family members who had accompanied him were also subject to RT-PCR test and found that all had the presence of 'S' gene dropout.

The minister said that all the passengers are asymptomatic and that the health department is waiting for the final test report regarding the presence of Omicron variant.

He said that the samples have been sent to a Bengaluru testing facility and is expecting the results either by Tuesday evening or Wednesday day time. The state has so far sent the samples of 29 people for testing at Bengaluru laboratory for gene sequencing of which four were identified with Delta variant.