Fourth case of Omicron in India, 33-year-old Maharashtra man tests positive for new COVID-19 variant

MUMBAI: A 33-year-old man from Maharashtra's Kalyan-Dombivli who recently returned from South Africa has been found positive for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, informed the State Health Department on Saturday.

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

The concerned person's sample was taken in Delhi which was genome sequenced at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

The person, a resident of Thane, Maharashtra, is currently at a Medical Isolation Facility in Mumbai. The 33-yr-old passenger arrived in Mumbai on November 24 from Capetown, South Africa through Dubai and Delhi.

He hasn't taken any vaccine. 12 of his high-risk contacts and 23 of the low-risk contacts have been traced and all have been tested negative for COVID-19, said the Maharashtra Health Department.

As per the Department, additionally, 25 of the co-passengers from the Delhi-Mumbai flight have also been tested negative.

More contacts are currently being traced, it added.