Six people who
arrived in Delhi from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands were hospitalised
at the Lok Nayak Hospital on Wednesday after four of them tested positive for
COVID-19. Both the UK and the Netherlands are in India’s list of “at-risk”
countries in light of the omicron variant outbreak. The omicron variant, first
detected in South Africa, has been reported in 23 countries so far. India, the
world’s second-most populous country, is yet to report an omicron variant
infection.

Samples of the six
hospitalised have been sent to India’s National Centre for Disease Control for
genome sequencing to test if they are infected with the omicron variant. A
dedicated ward has been set up at the LNJP hospital to quarantine and treat such
patients, officials said.

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“Four flights
originating from Amsterdam and London and carrying 1,013 passengers landed at
the Indira Gandhi International Airport between 12 night and 6 am. Of these
passengers, four have tested positive,” a source told PTI.

Three out of the
six people came in on a flight from Amsterdam which was carrying 372 people.
The fourth patient, who flew in from London, came in on a flight with 176
others. All of them are Indian nationals.

Following the
detection and spread of the new and highly-mutative omicron variant, India has
identified several nations as “at risk”. These “at risk” countries include South
Africa, where the variant was first detected, as well as the UK, Botswana,
China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

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Under the new
rules of the Indian government, travellers from these countries will have to
undergo mandatory RT-PCR tests and will be allowed to leave the airport only
after the test results come in. Meanwhile, for people coming in from countries
except those marked as “at risk”, authorities will test 5% of passengers
randomly.