A 66-year-old man from South Africa who had tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival and made to isolate in a Bengaluru hotel escaped the quarantine and returned to the country via Dubai, even before the genomic sequencing report of his sample arrived. And, according to sources of Times of India, the test report revealed that the man was infected with the new variant Omicron.
The man and some member of the hotel staff have been booked by the Bengaluru police under Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020 on Sunday.
The man had landed in Bengaluru on November 20 from South Africa and was quarantined as soon as he tested positive, a complaint filed by Dr Naveen Kumar M said. On Monday, Dr Naveen, medical officer, BBMP, Shivajinagar registered the complaint at High Grounds Police station.
As per the complaint, the man was given a room at a hotel where had been kept in institutional quarantine for 14 days. He, however, escaped quarantine after seven days (November 27) by producing a negative COVID-19 report from a private laboratory. Despite knowing that the 66-year old was quarantined for 14 days, the hotel staff allowed him to leave after he produced the negative report, the complaint said.
According to TOI, the patient left for South Africa on the same day when he escaped from quarantine, from the Kempegowda airport. He had also presented the same COVID-19 negative report at the airport, sources said. He is believed to be the head of a pharmaceutical firm based in Johannesburg.
Omicron has been classified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation, hence India has ramped up its surveillance by testing international passengers arriving from ‘at-risk' nations.
With Agency Input
