First Omicron variant case detected in Navi Mumbai, traveller arrived from Kenya via Hyderabad

The first confirmed case of the Omicron variant of Covid has been reported in Vashi under the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Monday. The person had travelled to Hyderabad from Kenya and then reached Navi Mumbai.

Abhijit Bangar, the municipal commissioner confirmed that one case of Omicron variant has been detected at sector 14 at Vashi in Navi Mumbai.

According to a senior civic official, the traveller had reached Hyderabad on December 15 from Kenya. The report of the RtPCR test conducted at the Hyderabad airport came on December 18 which was positive. Following this, the sample of the traveller was sent for the Genome Sequencing and the report came on December 20 and it was positive of Omicron variant of Covid. The person was at the home isolation in Vashi and waiting for his report.

Bangar said that the traveller has been admitted to MGM Hospital in Sanpada where a separate isolation ward has been created for Omicron positive cases. A team of doctors is monitoring his health.

Meanwhile, the civic body has started the contact tracing. “We have traced people who came in his contact and they are being isolated as well as RtPCR tests are also being conducted,” said Bangar. At present, there are around 20 persons with the suspicion of the Omicron variant and they are isolated separately. The society where the traveller resides in Vashi has been sealed.

The patient had given the address of a local (Gujarat-based) relative to the private laboratory, where he had tested positive. After testing positive for the COVID-19 infection, he had returned to Mumbai without informing the local authorities, Medical Officer of Health, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Devesh Patel said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that XE could be more transmissible than any COVID-19 strain so far. XE is a combination or recombinant of both sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2) of Omicron.

(With inputs from PTI)