First Omicron Case Detected In Maharashtra, 4th In India

A 33-year-old passenger returning from South Africa’s Cape Town city to Mumbai via Dubai has been detected with COVID-19’s new Omicron variant.

He is a resident of Kalyan-Dombivli. This is the first case of Omicron in Maharashtra and the fourth in the country.

As per the Maharashtra Health Department, the passenger arrived in Mumbai on November 24 and has not been vaccinated yet. Among the contacts traced 12 are high-risk and 23 have been detected as low-risk contacts and all have been tested negative for COVID-19.

Additionally, 25 of the co-passengers from the Delhi-Mumbai flight have also been tested negative. More contacts are currently being traced.

Previously, a 71-year-old NRI from Gujarat was tested positive for the Omicron variant who returned from Zimbabwe and 2 people from Karnataka tested positive for the same – a 46-year-old doctor and a 66-year-old South African national.

In order to curb the spread in the country, the Union Health Minister has issued a letter to 5 states and 1 UT to adhere to COVID-19 norms and follow all protocols. As per the letter, states are to monitor passengers arriving from high-risk countries closely, send all COVID-19 samples for further genome testing, thorough contact tracing, etc. These states include Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha and Mizoram.