Amid Omicron Scare, 30 Foreign Returnees 'Missing' In Andhra Pradesh

Collectors of other districts in the state have been alerted by the Vishakapatnam district administration to trace the 30 'missing' foreign returnees who left the port city in the last 10 days.

Representational image| Photo: Getty

New Delhi: Half of the 60 international passengers who returned to India in the last 10 days are reportedly missing in Andhra Pradesh.

 

In a bid to check if the passengers test positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the Andhra Pradesh administration has decided to conduct RT-PCR test of the foreign returnees.

 

As many as 60 international passengers who returned to India in the last 10 days had visited Vishakapatnam, according to a report by Times Of India. Of these returnees, 30 are staying in Vishakapatnam, while 30 other left for various places in Andhra. The report said that some of them are allegedly not responding to telephone calls, and officials fear they are 'missing'.

 

Collectors of other districts in the state have been alerted by the Vishakapatnam district administration to trace the 30 'missing' foreign returnees who left the port city in the last 10 days.

 

Three passengers had come from South Africa and six had come from Botswana to Vishakapatnam. Officials had traced six of them, while the remaining three had reportedly left for their respective villages in Krishna district. Two of them had come from Botswana, and one was from South Africa, and the search is on to trace them, the report said.

 

In view of the Omicron threat, the state is in high alert. Screening of passengers at airports has been intensified. Officials noted that nine people had come from Africa, and many of them had not landed directly in Vishakapatnam, according to the report. The passengers went to Vishakapatnam after alighting at various international airports. Though they may have undergone RT-PCR tests at the international airports, the district administration wants to be doubly sure by conducting another RT-PCR test to rule out any Omicron cases among them. 

 

No foreigner has tested positive so far, the report quoted Vishakapatnam district joint collector, Arun Babu.