AKUH confirms Pakistan’s first ever case of the Omicron strain of the Coronavirus.

KARACHI: The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) revealed Monday that gene-sequencing has discovered Pakistan’s first-ever instance of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus in a patient with no travel history.

The existence of the COVID-19 Omicron variation in the first patient was confirmed by gene sequencing at AKUH, according to the hospital’s statement. “The patient is doing well at home. At AKUH, no further COVID-19 Omicron cases have been detected thus far “It was also added.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) verified the news in a series of tweets.

“Through whole genome sequencing, the NIH has been able to confirm that a newly suspected sample from Karachi is definitely the ‘Omicron variant’ of SARS-CoV2,” it tweeted.

“This is the first verified instance, but we’re keeping an eye on suspicious samples to see whether trends emerge.”

The National Institutes of Health emphasised the necessity of being vaccinated to guard against existing and novel coronavirus strains.