New case of Omicron variant reported Mumbai’s Dharavi

The city’s civic agency Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that the patient had returned from Tanzania and is currently admitted at SevenHills hospital.

The agency added that the patient is asymptomatic and is not vaccinated. Two people who had come to receive the patient have been traced as well.

This fresh infection has taken Maharashtra’s total tally of Omicron to 11.

Notably, Dharavi is the largest slum in Asia and the reports of Omicron infection has triggered concern as the densely packed area, spread over 2.1 sq. km, houses a population of over 7-10 lakh people. The slum colony had reported a large number of coronavirus cases during the first and second waves of the pandemic. It reported its first COVID-19 case and death on April 1, 2020, after a 56-year-old man succumbed to the infection.

Earlier in the day, two people were reported to be positive with the Omicron variant in Gujarat. Vijaykumar Kharadi, Municipal Commissioner said on Friday that the two people who tested positive for the new strain had come in contact with a traveller from Zimbabwe who had tested positive for Omicron earlier in December.

“In Jamnagar, two persons, who came in contact with an Omicron patient, tested positive for COVID-19. Their samples were sent for genome testing and the reports revealed that both of them are Omicron positive,” the official said.

He also clarified that all three Omicron patients in Gujarat are asymptomatic.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said, “Clinically, Omicron is not posing a burden on the healthcare system yet, but the vigil has to be maintained.”

“Regular meetings are being organised to keep a watch on the global scenario and Covid scene in India with a focus on Omicron. We need help to not spread panic. District level restrictions to be implemented where positivity over 5%,” Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR, was quoted by ANI as saying.