Daily Times

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron has been found to be the dominant strain of the coronavirus among travellers to Karachi and Sindh this month.

Over 34 samples were collected from passengers, who arrived in the province this month. On May 10, the genome sequencing results found 33 (86.8%) infections of the Omicron variant, while 1 (2.6%) tested positive for the Delta variant, as per the data of the Sindh Health Department shared exclusively with Geo.tv.

Of the Omicron cases, the majority, 76.3% cases were of the contagious BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron, while 15.8% were of BA.1 and 5.3% of BA.3. On Monday, Pakistan also detected its first case of the BA.2.12.1, which is a further mutation of BA.2. The case was confirmed in a person who had travelled by air from Qatar to Pakistan.

On the same day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the immediate restoration of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Pakistan recorded 31 new cases of the coronavirus but no deaths on May 13. Meanwhile, Pakistan has decided to start COVID-19 screening tests for the inbound flights from the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia after identifying the new sub-variant of Omicron.

The screening process through the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) will come into effect on May 14 at 12:01am in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airports. Initially, 10 to 15 passengers travelling via small aircraft, carrying up to 150 passengers, will undergo the tests. Meanwhile, planes with a capacity of 250 passengers will test 15 to 20 passengers.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the National Institution of Health’s Centre for Disease Control (CDC) are implementing these measures following the directives of the health minister. These will remain in effect until further notice by the CDC.