Omicron Enters Maharashtra Via Delhi As Man In Kalyan Dombivili Tests Positive, India Tally Reaches 4

According to the state health department, the man recently returned from South Africa. This is the fourth case of the variant in India.

Mumbai: Maharashtra on Saturday reported its first case of 'Omicron' after a 33-year-old man from Kalyan-Dombivli tested positive for the new variant of Coronavirus.

According to the State Health Department, the 33-year-old man from Kalyan Dombivli municipal area near Mumbai had arrived at the Delhi airport from South Africa via Dubai before flying to Mumbai.

The man had arrived in Delhi on November 24 via Cape Town and had given his samples for COVID-19 testing at the Delhi airport. He had then taken a flight to Mumbai, official sources close to news agency PTI said in Delhi.

The passenger, who is exhibiting mild symptoms, is currently under treatment at a Covid centre in Kalyan-Dombivali.

"He came with a group of four people. We are tracing and tracking them. Their RT-PCR test, as well as genome sequencing, will be done as well," Maharashtra health department director Dr Archana Patil told the news agency.

Meanwhile, the Thane health authorities launched a drive and traced 12 of his high-risk contacts and 23 low-risk contacts, but all have tested negative, news agency IANS reported.

Another 25 passengers who arrived by the same New Delhi-Mumbai flight on November 24 have also tested negative and more of their contacts are currently being traced, according to the official.

Till Saturday morning, the state health authorities said they have tested 3,839 passengers arriving from the 'high-risk' or 'at risk' Omicron afflicted nations, landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).

Besides, another 344 out of 17,107 passengers arriving to Mumbai from other countries have also been subjected to random testing.

The country had detected its first two cases of the Omicron variant from Karnataka earlier this week, while the third case was reported from Gujarat’s Jamnagar earlier in the day.

Report of the new case of Omicron came after the Union Health Ministry wrote to states and union territory of Jammu & Kashmir to take necessary steps to control the spread of COVID-19 and reduce fatality.

"All states have been advised to undertake enhanced surveillance of international travellers, monitor emerging hotspots, prompt contact tracing of positive people, besides sending all positive samples for genome sequencing, early identification of cases and review of health infrastructure preparedness, and most importantly to focus on IEC and community sensitisation," Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in its letter referring to a letter sent to all states/UTs on November 27 in the context of the new Omicron variant.