The latest reports say that experts at DUHS have confirmed 11 cases from the samples sent to them by the officials of health department in Sindh.
KARACHI: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Dec 31st, 2021) Karachi on Friday reported 11 cases of Omicron—the new variant of Coronavirus.
The latest reports suggested that 11 members of a family in District East of Karachi were found infected with it.
Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Vice Chancellor Prof Saeed Quraishy said that experts at the Provincial Public Health Laboratory (PPHL) detected 11 cases of Omicron variant from the samples of a family from Lahore.
He said that these samples had been collected by the Sindh Health Department, which sent them to DUHS, where their experts confirmed the presence of Omicron variant through Next Generation Sequencing (NGS).
A report said that Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Karachi, acquired the capability of conducting the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) with the help of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the varsity’s Provincial Public Health Laboratory (PPHL) is now the designated lab of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
He stated that they would continue to carry out surveillance for the Omicron variant cases at their lab, adding that they were using the molecular genetics technique for the detection of new variants, which is not available at many other facilities in the country.
The Sindh Health Department officials said that they had sent the samples of 20 people infected with COVID-19 to the Dow University for confirmation of the Omicron Variant and after analysis, the Dow University confirmed that 11 people of the family, who came in contact with a female member of their family from Lahore, were infected with the Omicron variant.
