The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has finally reached Assam after three Dibrugarh University students who had recently returned from South Africa tested positive for the strain.
They were found positive after being tested with recently developed special kit by ICMR-RMRC, an ICMR official informed.
The samples has been sent by ICMR-Dibrugarh to the North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) in Jorhat for ‘Whole Genome Sequencing’ . It is worth noting that NEIST Jorhat is equipped with NGS facilities meant for Next Generation Sequencing for final testing to confirm that the samples are Omicron Positive.
“We carried out ‘Targeted Sequencing’ to reconfirm that the cases are Omicron Positive” an ICMR-RMRC sources stated.