Shimla: Tourists Celebrating New Year’s Eve At The Ridge Evacuated Over 'Omicron Scare': Report

Thousands of tourists have descended on Himachal that has reported 1 Omicron case so far. A bomb disposal squad was present at the Ridge, and Shimla DC called the deployment a precautionary measure.

Police personnel patrol in the deserted Ridge area in Shimla after tourists were evacuated on Friday | Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Authorities in the hill capital of Shima evacuated tourists and local people gathered at the Ridge maidan Friday evening amid fears of the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, news agency PTI reported.

Quoting Shimla Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi, the PTI report said thousands of people had gathered on the Ridge maidan to celebrate the new year’s eve, and the district administration decided to vacate the overcrowded place to check the Omicron spread.

The state, however, has reported only one Covid case of the new variant so far, and the patient has since tested negative.

According to the PTI report, a bomb disposal squad was also present on the Ridge Friday, about which Negi said the squad, and also fire tenders, were deployed as a precautionary measure.

Thousands of tourists from the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh and other nearby areas, besides local residents, had gathered at the Ridge maidan in the Himachal Pradesh capital Friday.

The police suddenly started vacating the popular place around 7.30 pm, a tourist was quoted as saying. 

First Omicron Case Was A Woman Who Came From Canada 

Himachal Pradesh reported the first case of Omicron variant on Sunday.

Reports said the patient was a woman from Khalyar in Himachal's Mandi district who had arrived in India from Canada on December 3. She had been isolated at home for 14 days and tested positive for Covid-19 on December 12, news agency IANS had quoted an official as saying.

The woman's swab samples sent for genome sequencing on December 18 showed the presence of the Omicron variant. "However, her tests taken on December 24 came back negative," National Health Mission Director Hemraj Bairwa was quoted as saying.

With tourists rushing to the hills to ring in the New Year, the state government had issued directions to the authorities in all districts to strictly execute all Covid-19 protocols to contain the spread of Omicron.

"So far there was one Covid-19 Omicron case in the state and that too has now been reported Negative. The government does not want to impose any restrictions on tourism as it is a source of income for hundreds of people in the state," Health Minister Dr Rajiv Saizal said Thursday, according to an ANI report.