Karachi reports six more suspected cases of Omicron variant: sources

• Sources say suspected patients have travelled to Karachi from abroad.
• Say samples of suspected cases were sent to private hospital for confirmation. 
• Say that the suspected patients have been shifted to a quarantine centre.

KARACHI: Karachi has reported six new suspected cases of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, sources within Sindh Health Department said Thursday.

The sources said that the suspected patients have a travel history. Four of them arrived in Karachi from South Africa, where the Omicron variant originated, and two others from Britain.

They said that the samples taken from the suspected patients have been sent to a private hospital for further confirmation and the patients have been shifted to a quarantine centre.

Pakistan has so far reported one confirmed and 33 suspected cases of Omicron, apart from the latest suspected cases from Karachi.

The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), on December 13, had confirmed it had detected Pakistan's first-ever case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in a patient — who had no travel history — through gene-sequencing.

A second case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus had been reported from Karachi, sources within the Sindh Health Department had said later in the week.

Moreover, 32 suspected cases were reported in Balochistan's Kalat district during a vaccination and diagnostic process, a provincial health department official confirmed to Geo News Wednesday.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), however, has not yet confirmed any cases of the strain in Kalat.