Health officials appeal people to get vaccinated as 2 more Omicron cases detected in Mumbai

An airport worker checks passengers’ temperatures to determine whether they are fit enough to be allowed on the plane at the Mumbai International Airport on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Two more cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were detected in Mumbai on Monday, taking the state tally to 10. As per the report given by the National Institute of Virology, samples of a 37-year-old man and his 36-year-old friend tested positive for the variant. A state health official said both of them have been admitted to the SevenHills hospital.

The 37-year-old returned to Mumbai on November 25 from Johannesburg, South Africa and tested positive at the screening in the airport.

Passengers are being screened before being allowed on planes at the Mumbai International Airport on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The state health report said his friend travelled to Mumbai from the USA the same day. Both the patients have no symptoms and had taken Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. "We have traced 5 high risk and 315 low-risk contacts of both the patients. Further contact tracing is underway," said the official.

A 33-year-old man from Thane district, a resident of Dombivli, had earlier tested positive for the Omicron variant in the MMR. The first two cases of the Omicron variant were reported in the country in Karnataka, followed by one in Gujarat's Jamnagar.

A state health official said that field surveillance of all international passengers, who have arrived in the state since November 1, is underway. Genetic changes/mutation in viruses is a natural phenomenon and people should not panic.

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The Public Health Department has appealed to citizens to follow COVID appropriate behaviour and inform them if they have international travel history in the past month. It has also appealed to everyone to take the vaccination. "Those who have not taken the vaccine against COVID-19 or have had only one dose should complete their vaccination at the earliest," said the health official.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, epidemiologist and advisor to the Maharashtra government on COVID-19 management, said COVID appropriate behaviour and vaccination are the only way we can beat the new and upcoming variants. "People should get vaccinated and keep following COVID appropriate behaviour like using masks, social distancing and hand hygiene. There is nothing to panic," he said.