Mumbai: Not 1 out of 100 travellers back from countries of concern tests positive for Covid-19, say officials

Fliers at Mumbai international airport on November 3. Pic/Satej Shinde

Not a single traveller arriving in Mumbai from the "countries of concern" since November 12 has tested Covid-positive, though the BMC has collected their samples for another round of RT-PCR tests, said officials on Monday. In the case of a Covid-positive Dombivli man who came from Omicron-hit South Africa, the genome sequencing report will come after about 5 days.

The reports of the 100 city residents are expected tomorrow, said officials. The "countries of concern" include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and a few Middle Eastern and European nations. With the world in the grip of Omicron fear, the civic body is on its toes to trace passengers and their high-risk contacts in the past 20 days, which also saw 466 flyers, who are residents of Maharashtra, landing at Mumbai airport.

A BMC worker collects a sample of a train traveller at LTT, Kurla, on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Considering the present state of affairs, authorities have decided to stick to their earlier plan of reopening in-person classes for primary students from December 1. Currently, all passengers arriving from "countries of concern" are required to undergo RT-PCR tests at the airport. If they test positive, they will be quarantined institutionally and their samples will be sent to the genomic sequencing lab.

"Till now, there isn't any instruction from the Central or state government to quarantine passengers if they are found negative. Besides, we contacted all 100 passengers and they are asymptomatic and have negative test results. Most of the passengers have completed 14 days so there is less concern but for precautionary measures, swabs were collected for RT-PCR and we are expecting the results on Wednesday," said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner. "For the passengers found positive through RT-PCR, we will conduct an S gene test which detects infections other than known variants of Covid. Then the samples will go for genome sequencing," said Kakani.

KDMC isolates 32-year-old man

A BMC official said that the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation will trace the passengers who travelled with a 32-year-old man from Dombivli that arrived in Mumbai from South Africa via Delhi. He tested positive and has been isolated by KDMC. The genome sequencing of his sample will be done at BMC's lab at Kasturba Hospital. "We currently have 200 samples. With a few more samples, the test will start on Tuesday and it takes 5 to 6 days to complete it. So by this weekend, the result will be out," said Kakani.

About school opening, a BMC official said, "Till now there isn't any new decision and instruction from the state government. Schools will reopen as scheduled earlier. There is no need to panic and cases are under control." Meanwhile Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackeray met BMC officials and asked them to remain alert. "Mumbai's 1st dose is 100% complete and 72% for 2nd dose. We would be requesting the Union Govt to reduce the gap between 2 doses, without altering our vaccine delivery schedule, so that we can complete 100% of 2nd dose for Mumbai by mid January. Vaccines and Masks are extremely crucial for Covid appropriate behaviour," he wrote on social media.

Vaccination: BMC targets establishments

After its initiative to give the ‘fully vaccinated' tag to societies, the BMC will start a campaign for ‘fully vaccinated establishments' under which an organisation must ensure that all its employees, permanent and temporary, are fully vaccinated. It will be applicable to government and private set-ups, including hospitals, malls and restaurants. "We will provide them with the nearest vaccination centres if they want to vaccinate employees. It will also be applicable for employees coming from outside Mumbai," said a BMC official.

466
No. of fliers who landed at city airport from at-risk nations since November 12