Amid threats of Omicron variant spread, 15 persons who landed at the Chhattisgarh airport visiting from foreign countries between November and December have been reported missing as they seem to have vanished fearing the new coronavirus variant. State administration has issued special instructions to the district collectors and SPs to trace the missing persons.
The majority of foreign returnees who provided the wrong address or whose phone remained switched off during the verification call belong to Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Raigarh and Korba district, one Health Department official said.
Director of Epidemic Control Dr Subhash Mishra while speaking to FPJ on Friday said, "Till date, no cases related to Omicron infection have been detected in the state. As part of precautionary measures, special instructions were given to District Collectors and SPs to trace the missing persons who came from foreign countries. In the context, FIR was also lodged in Bilaspur last week against the three missing people and their locations were traced."
Their samples were taken and sent for genome sequencing, the Director said.
However, some cases of new Covid infection were detected in the state but all have local strain. Therefore, instead of being panicked, if people strictly follow the Covid protocol, wear masks and maintain distance, it will help in controlling the virus, Dr Mishra said.
In the last 36 hours, 40 new cases of Covid infection were detected in Chhattisgarh, a state health department bulletin said.
