Amid a rise in cases of infection caused by the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus in India,

The Ranchi district administration has set up a separate 20-bed isolation centre at Sadar Hospital for international and interstate travellers coming from Omicron-affected states and countries if they test positive for Covid-19 upon arrival, officials said on Sunday.

The passengers, who test negative for Covid-19 in RT PCR tests conducted after a week’s stay at the isolation centre, will be allowed to stay in home quarantine for 14 more days, said Ranchi civil surgeon Dr Vinod Kumar.

Initially, only passengers with international travel history were supposed to be kept in this separate isolation centre, but with cases of Omicron infection showing up in some states too, Covid positive people travelling from such states will also be kept at this isolation centre, said Dr Kumar.

“The protocols for checking the spread of Omicron cases are changing frequently. For now, we have made a separate isolation facility for any passenger travelling from places where cases of Omicron infection have surfaced,” said Kumar, adding that genome sequencing of the samples collected from passengers who test positive for Covid-19 will also be done.

The new and more transmissible variant of coronavirus, Omicron, which first surfaced in South Africa, has already spread to several other countries including India. Cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection caused by this new variant have already been reported in Maharashtra, Karnataka and New Delhi. Several flights and trains connect Ranchi to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, and thousands of passengers from Maharashtra, Karnataka and the national capital enter Jharkhand every day.

While Jharkhand has already intensified daily screening of passengers arriving at the Birsa Munda Airport and the two railway stations here, it was important to set up separate isolation centres for Omicron-infected individuals in a bid to prevent the spread of this variant of coronavirus among people in the state, officials said.

The two leading government hospitals in Ranchi, the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Sadar Hospital, have also been instructed to ramp up facilities for Covid patients amid a growing fear of a rise in cases. Doctors from RIMS said that they have readied over 300 additional Covid beds.

“International agencies are still studying the symptoms caused by this new variant. The severity of symptoms is also under study, so it is best to be prepared with necessary medical infrastructure for any crisis,” said a doctor from RIMS.