Maha reports Omicron cases for 3rd day running, tally now 10
Darpan News Desk IANS, 06 Dec, 2021 03:03 PM
Mumbai, Dec 6 (IANS) For the third consecutive day, Maharashtra reported cases of Covid-19 variant Omicron, with two more in Mumbai taking the state's tally to 10, health officials said on Monday.
A 37-year-old man who arrived here from South Africa's Johannesburg on November 25 has tested positive and also his 36-year-old friend who landed in Mumbai from the US on the same day.
Both patients have not shown symptoms and are admitted to the BMC's Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri east.
The two patients have taken jabs of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine.
Additionally, five high-risk and 315 low-risk contacts of both the men have also been traced and further tracking is underway.
The development followed 7 persons testing Omicron positive on Sunday, including a Nigerian woman, 44, of Indian origin,, and her two daughters arriving in Pune from Lagos, and a man coming here after a visit to Finland.
Even the 45-year old brother of the 44-year old woman and his two children were infected and tested positive for Omicron, and all seven are under treatment at a hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
The health authorities have traced another 13 close contacts of the three Nigerian women and surveillance of people arriving by flights from the 'high risk' or 'at risk' nations to Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur has been intensified.
On December 4, the state's first Omicron patient was confirmed in Thane when a 33-year-old man arrived from Capetown via Dubai and New Delhi to Mumbai, tested positive. He is undergoing treatment at a Covid Centre in Kalyan-Dombivali.
Of the total 34,700 passengers who arrived including 6,263 from the risk nations, 6,898 have undergone RT-PCR tests, and reports of 11 who tested positive have been sent for genomic sequencing, said the Health Department.
Meanwhile, India logged 27,254 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 219 Covid deaths in the same time span. The country presently has nearly 3.75 lakh active cases.
At a virtual Covid-19 review meeting, the Chief Minister said vaccine effectiveness is evident from the data being analysed. Special efforts were made to reach out to the government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said with the case load decreasing, people had started being lax about wearing masks, which the Health Department should strictly enforce with the help of the police.
Additional Chief Secretary Devendra Singh and Deputy Commissioner of Karnal Nishant Yadav are participating in the meeting. From the farmers side, BKU president Gurunam Singh Chaduni and the state leadership will present their demands.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Balbir Singh Rajewal told the media here after the day-long deliberations with the political parties, except the BJP, that they had told the political parties not to hold big rallies till elections in the state are announced.
Naqvi further stated that the long-pending demand of Kartarpur Corridor has been fulfilled and the government has also decided to start the 'Gurudwara circuit train' that will take passengers on a pilgrimage across the country.
