Two cases of the new variant of the coronavirus were detected from Thiruvananthapuram in patients aged 17 and 44. One case was detected in Malappuram, aged 37 and another case was a 49-year-old patient from Thrissur district. ''The 17-year-old patient in Thiruvananthapuram came from the UK while the 44-year-old reached the state from Tunisia in a chartered flight. The patient in Malappuram came from Tanzania while the Thrissur native came from Kenya,'' Health Minister Veena George said in a release. George said since Kenya and Tunisia were not among the list of high-risk countries, they were asked to isolate themselves. The minister said the 17-year-old boy from the UK reached the state on December 9 along with his father, mother and sister. His grandmother is also in the contact list and all are under treatment.

The patient in Malappuram is a south Karnataka native and was admitted to the hospital as he tested positive on arrival on December 13.

The new variant was confirmed in the testing conducted at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology here.

The state had detected its first Omicron case on December 12 in Ernakulam district when a person who had returned from the UK tested positive. Four more cases of the new variant were confirmed on December 15. Yesterday two cases were confirmed.