Omicron variant: Nagpur reports its first case, total cases in Maharashtra rise to 18

Omicron variant: Nagpur reports its first case, total cases in Maharashtra rise to 18

Sanjay JogUpdated: Sunday, December 12, 2021, 10:57 PM IST
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(ANI Photo)

Maharashtra's second capital -- orange city Nagpur -- on Sunday documented its first Omicron case, taking the state's tally to 18. Nagpur Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B said the man who had tested positive is a 40-year-old.

"A local resident, he came from a country in West Africa eight days ago. On his arrival, he tested positive for COVID-19. After that he was admitted to a city hospital and his sample was sent for genome sequencing. The report that came today confirmed that he is infected with the Omicron variant," said Radhakrishnan. However, he added that all his contacts have tested negative.

According to the state public health department, ‘’The patient from Nagpur has mild symptoms and is currently in isolation at AIIMS Nagpur; thirty close contacts of the patient have been traced and all are negative. The patient has not received any vaccine.’’

Maharashtra, as of now, has the highest number of Omicron cases in the country.

Of the 18 cases, Mumbai reported 5, Pimpri Chinchwad 10, Pune Municipal Corporation 1, Kalyan Dombivali 1 and Nagpur 1. Of these, 9 patients were discharged after their RT-PCR came negative.

Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the government has stepped up tracing, tracking, testing and vaccination as the Omicron threat looms large. Rigorous testing of international passengers is on at Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune airports. Additionally, field surveillance of all international passengers, who have arrived since November 1, is underway. He called upon people not to panic as the severity of the variant is low.

Through airport and field surveillance, 107 samples have been sent for genomic sequencing and results of 26 are awaited. ‘’For genome sequencing, we currently have three labs but intend to expand the facility to Nagpur and Aurangabad,'' said Tope. .

The State Task Force on COVID-19 member, Dr Shashank Joshi, claimed that airports have become testing labs and underscored the need for efficiency to ensure that minimum time is spent at the airport. However, the real challenge is to track the person after he leaves the airport.

Dr Joshi hailed the BMC decision to contact people, who are in home quarantine, five times a day and thereafter conduct their RT-PCR tests.

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