India confirms 4th Omicron Case: 33 year old man from Maharashtra tests positive

Representative Image (Image: AFP)

In a span of a few hours, India has confirmed yet another Omicron case, making this the fourth case of the COVID-19 variant in India. The fourth case is of a 33-year-old man from Maharashtra who travelled to Mumbai from South Africa via Dubai, Delhi and was found positive. This is the first case of the variant in Maharashtra.

A 33-year-old person from Kalyan-Dombivli who recently returned from South Africa found positive for #Omicron variant of #COVID19: State Health Department

This is the first case of the variant in Maharashtra and the fourth in the country.

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— ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2021

"Man, who returned from foreign country, to Kalyan Dombivali municipal area near Mumbai, tests positive for Omicron variant of coronavirus", said Dr Archana Patil, Maharashtra health department director.

The 33-year-old man had arrived in Delhi on November 23 and had given his samples for COVID-19 testing at the Delhi airport. He had then taken a flight to Mumbai, official sources said in Delhi, as reported by PTI.

Also Read: Omg, Omicron! Why it's too soon to panic about COVID vaccines and the new variant

On November 24, the passenger arrived in Mumbai. The man has a mild fever but no other symptoms of COVID-19 infection are seen in him, an official statement said.

The Maharashtra Health Department also informed that he hasn't taken any vaccine. 12 of his high-risk contacts & 23 of the low-risk contacts have been traced and all have been tested negative for COVID19.

"Additionally, 25 of the co-passengers from the Delhi-Mumbai flight have also been tested negative. More contacts are currently being traced", said the  Maharashtra Health Department.

Cases with the Omicron variant have already been detected in Karnataka and Gujarat. While the first two cases of the variant were confirmed in Karnataka on December 2, the third case was confirmed earlier today in Gujarat.

In Gujarat, a 72-year-old man was found infected with the Omicron variant  in Jamnagar following hid return from Zimbabwe. The sample of the elderly man was sent for genome sequencing, after he tested positive for COVID-19 on December 2 .

Also Read: Reinfections three times more likely with Omicron Covid-19 variant: Study

In Karnataka, where the first cases of the country were reported, two people tested positive identified as 66-year-old and 46-year-old males.

State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar had informed that the 66-year-old patient infected with Omicron variant was a South African national who has "now gone back". The 46-year-old patient is a doctor who has no travel history, the minister said, adding both of them were fully vaccinated.

(With inputs from PTI & ANI)