6 people in Maharashtra, back from Africa, test positive for Covid-19

6 people from Maharashtra, who returned from high-risk countries who reported Covid-19 positive with the Omicron tested positive for Covid-19

NewsBharati    01-Dec-2021
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Mumbai, December 1: 6 people from Maharashtra, who have returned from the high-risk countries which have reported Covid-19 positive cases with the Omicron variant, have tested positive for Covid-19. Their samples have now been sent for genome sequencing.

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Of the 6, one is from Pune city, who returned from Zambia on November 20, 2 are from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation who returned from Nigeria and the rest are from Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Mira-Bhayander areas.
 
 
Public health department said in their official statement, “Currently, there are 6 passengers who arrived from South Africa or other high-risk countries in the state who have tested positive. Of those who have come from South Africa and other countries, one each has been found in Mumbai corporation, Kalyan-Dombivali corporation, Meera-Bhayandar corporation and Pune. This is in addition to two passengers who arrived from Nigeria who have been found in the Pimpri-Chinchwad corporation area. All their samples have been sent for genetic sequencing and their contact tracing is underway. All these passengers, although Covid-19 positive, are either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. Citizens should follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and inform the authorities if they have international travel history in the last month. Those who have not taken the Covid-19 vaccine, or have had only one dose should complete their vaccination at the earliest.”

The Pune resident who came back from Zambia, a high-risk countries with regards to the Omicron variant of the Sars-Cov-2 variant, has tested positive for Covid-19, said the officials. The passenger returned to India on November 20 and all his high-risk contacts tested negative for the infection. The person is currently asymptomatic and is isolating at home.
 
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The patient’s sample has now been by Pune Municipal Corporation sent for genome sequencing to National Institute of Virology to determine of he is infected with new variant. The genome sequencing results will come in in a week’s time. The person is nearing completion of 14-day isolation period as per protocol.

Countries included in “at risk” list for Omicron are: South Africa, Botswana. Netherlands, Hong Kong, Belgium, Israel, Australia, England, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Austria and Canada.