India confirms its third Omicron case; 72 year old man returning from Zimbabwe

A 72-year-old man has been found infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Jamnagar, Gujarat following return from Zimbabwe, the state health department said on December 4.

The sample of the elderly man was sent for genome sequencing, after he tested positive for COVID-19 on December 2 , it said.

Gujarat's Commissioner of Health Jai Prakash Shivhare confirmed that the man was found infected with the Omicron strain.

The man had arrived in Gujarat from Zimbabwe on November 28 and had tested positive for coronavirus on December 2, after which his sample was sent for genome sequencing, officials said.

Jamnagar municipal commissioner Vijaykumar Kharadi had said that the sample was sent to Ahmedabad for genome sequencing to ascertain whether he was infected with the Omicron variant.

The man, who hails from Jamnagar, has been living in Zimbabwe since the last many years. He arrived in the state to meet his father-in-law. After he got a fever, his doctor advised him to get an RT-PCR test done.

The private laboratory on Thursday informed the civic authorities that his report has come out positive for COVID-19, he said. After that, the man had been shifted to the isolation ward at the Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital, Kharadi said.

The district authorities had already started his contact tracing as per protocols, officials said.

On December 2, India had confirmed its first two cases of the Omicron variant, which has been marked as a 'variant of concern' by the World Health Organization. (WHO).

Also Read: COVID-19 Omicron variant: Parliamentary panel recommends evaluation of vaccines, more research for booster dose

Two people earlier had tested positive for this variant in Karnataka and were identified as 66-year-old and 46-year-old males. All primary and secondary contacts had been traced and are being tested, Union Health Ministry's Joint Secretary Lav Agrawal said at a press briefing.

Both the patients were diagnosed with "mild symptoms", and "all their contacts have been identified and they are under monitoring. The protocol is being followed," Agrawal said.

Soon after the Karnataka government on December 3 imposed fresh restrictions on the state. Now there's a cap of 500 people at public gatherings, meetings and conferences. Apart from that, only fully vaccinated people will be allowed entry into malls and theatres.

West Bengal as well on the same day directed travellers from countries affected by Omicron to stay in isolation for seven days.

Travellers flying in from other parts of the country will have to furnish their reports of RTPCR tests.  Direction was also given to keep strict vigil on flyers from neighbouring Bangladesh and Singapore.

The Municipal Commissioner of Greater Mumbai area also issued new guidelines as per which, the CEO of the Mumbai International Airport will have to send a single line list of international passengers, arriving in Mumbai in preceding 24 hours from ‘high risk countries’, and those who have visited these countries in the last 15 days.

Besides, only those passengers who have mentioned Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) area in their addresses shall be included in the list.

(With inputs from PTI)