Omicron Threat Looms Large In Maharashtra As Another 12 Foreign Returnees Untraceable In Thane District

Maharashtra has so far reported 10 cases of the new Coronavirus mutant, highest in the country so far.

A health worker collects swab samples of a passenger in Mumbai. (File Photo/PTI)

Mumbai: Another 12 foreign returnees have gone untraceable in Maharashtra's Thane district amid the ongoing scare of highly transmissible Covid-19 variant - Omicron, an official of the Municipal Corporation told news agency ANI.

Maharashtra has so far reported 10 cases of the new Coronavirus mutant, highest in the country so far. Officials of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation area on Tuesday said that at least 12 people of 318 passengers who returned from abroad went missing. 

Maharashtra | 12 recent foreign returnees are untraceable in Thane district's Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation area, an official of the Municipal Corporation said.

— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2021

A search operation is on to locate them, KDMC chief Vijay Sooryavanshi told the news agency.

"Some of the passengers who returned cannot be reached as their mobile phones are switched off whereas the addresses that the others gave are locked up," he said.

Sooryavanshi also informed that a team from the health department would again visit the given addresses.

The development comes a day after 109 out of 295 recent foreign returnees to the township in Thane district went missing on Monday. 

All foreign returnees from all 'at risk' nations have to undergo 7-day home quarantine and a Covid-19 test will be conducted on the eighth day. Even if their Covid report is negative, they will have to undergo another 7-day home quarantine and it would be the duty of housing society members to ensure the norm is not violated.

Omicron Tally In Maharashtra

There are no new cases of Omicron variant today in the state. For the third consecutive day on December 6, Maharashtra reported cases of Covid-19 variant Omicron, with two more in Mumbai taking the state's tally to 10.

 A 37-year-old man who arrived here from South Africa's Johannesburg on November 25 has tested positive and also his 36-year-old friend who landed in Mumbai from the US on the same day.

Another 7 persons tested Omicron positive on December 5, including a Nigerian woman, 44, of Indian origin,, and her two daughters arriving in Pune from Lagos, and a man coming here after a visit to Finland.

Even the 45-year old brother of the 44-year old woman and his two children were infected and tested positive for Omicron, and all seven are under treatment at a hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

On December 4, the state's first Omicron patient was confirmed in Thane when a 33-year-old man arrived from Capetown via Dubai and New Delhi to Mumbai, tested positive. He is undergoing treatment at a Covid Centre in Kalyan-Dombivali.

India Better Prepared For Omicron

Despite rising cases of the new mutant, health experts have said that India is better prepared to face the Omicron wave, if it comes. However, they have warned that people should always wear double face masks as these continue to be the best protection against any variant and get vaccinated.

Most of the vaccines, in general, have demonstrated their effectiveness against new variants including Delta in preventing hospitalisations and deaths.