4th Omicron case in India: Maha man who returned from SA tests positive
Ahmedabad/Mumbai: India confirmed its fourth case of Omicron variant of Coronavirus, hours after a senior citizen from Gujarat was found infected with the highly transmissible variant.
Two more cases of the Omicron variant were reported on Saturday with a 72-year-old NRI man from Gujarat and a 33-year-old man from Maharashtra found infected with the new strain after they came from the "at-risk" countries of Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively taking to four the total number of such cases in the country.
As states tighten curbs to keep the Omicron variant at bay, the Centre has advised them to undertake enhanced surveillance of international travellers and also monitor emerging Covid hotspots.
While Gujarat's Commissioner of Health Jai Prakash Shivhare confirmed that the elderly Non-Resident Indian from Jamnagar city has tested positive for the Omicron variant, Maharashtra health department director Dr Archana Patil confirmed that a man from Kalyan Dombivli municipal area near Mumbai was found infected by the potentially contagious variant. These were the first cases of the Omicron variant for the two western states.
The country's first two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were reported on Thursday in Karnataka — in a 66-year-old South African flyer and a 46-year-old Bengaluru doctor with no travel history and both men fully vaccinated.
The NRI man had arrived in Gujarat from Zimbabwe on November 28 and had tested positive for Coronavirus on December 2, after which his sample was sent for genome sequencing, officials said. He was fully vaccinated, they said.
The man, who hails from Jamnagar, has been living in Zimbabwe since the last many years. He arrived in the state to meet his father-in-law. After he got a fever, his doctor advised him to get an RT-PCR test done. The private laboratory on Thursday informed the civic authorities that his report has come out positive for COVID-19, Jamnagar municipal commissioner Vijaykumar Kharadi said.
After that, the man had been shifted to the isolation ward at the Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital, Kharadi said.
The district authorities had already started his contact tracing as per protocols, officials said.
Officials in Mumbai said the man from Kalyan Dombivli municipal area near Mumbai had arrived at the Delhi airport from South Africa via Dubai before flying to the western metropolis.
The 33-year-old man had arrived in Delhi on November 23 and had given his samples for COVID-19 testing at the Delhi airport. He had then taken a flight to Mumbai, official sources said in Delhi.
"After he tested positive, the sample was sent for genomic sequencing and has been found to have the Omicron variant of Coronavirus on Saturday," the sources said, adding he has been isolated and all his contacts have been traced and are being managed as per protocol.
A man from Kalyan Dombivli municipal corporation area has tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19. He is the first official case in the state, Maharashtra health department director Dr Archana Patil said in Mumbai.
"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," she said.
More details are awaited but officials said the affected man had not received any vaccine dose against Covid.
As a debate rages over whether India should roll out the booster shots against Covid, scientists say that the country should prioritise double vaccinating its eligible population given the large number of people still to get the base layer of protection against the infection.
Meanwhile, the Union Health ministry on Saturday wrote to Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha and Mizoram to take necessary steps under the 'Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate-Covid Appropriate Behaviour' strategy to control the spread of the virus and reduce fatality.
The move comes in view of rising cases of the infection, weekly positivity rates and weekly deaths in some districts.
Referring to a letter sent to all states/UTs on November 27 in the context of the new Omicron variant, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday said 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.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will continue to provide requisite support to states/UTs in the ongoing and collective efforts against COVID-19, he added.
With 8,603 people testing positive for the Coronavirus infection in a day, India's tally of cases rose to 3,46,24,360, but active cases declined to 99,974, according to Union Health ministry data updated on Saturday.
The death toll, however, climbed to 4,70,530 with 415 fatalities reported on Saturday, the data released at 8 am showed.
The number of vaccine doses administered in a day crossed one crore on Saturday after more than two months, taking the total jabs given so far to over 127.5 crore, amid fears of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus.
