Many without travel history test positive for Omicron

Mumbai, Dec 31: As many as 141 Mumbai residents who had not traveled abroad recently tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Thursday, the civic body said.

Out of 153 persons who were found to have Omicron infection in the city during the day, only 12 had international travel history, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

But as per the Maharashtra government's release, issued earlier in the evening, out of 198 Omicron cases reported in the state, a whopping 190 were from Mumbai. The difference in state and BMC statistics could not be reconciled.

As per the BMC update, the tally of Omicron-infected Mumbai residents without a history of overseas travel rose to 160. The total of Omicron cases in the city rose to 290.

Of 141 Mumbai residents without travel history who tested positive to Omicron, the highest 21 are from the K-west ward which includes Andheri West, Juhu, and Versova, followed by the D ward that includes Malabar Hill, Mahalaxmi, and Tardeo areas.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani told PTI that the BMC would be sending 375 more samples for genome sequencing on Friday to check if there has been a community spread of the Omicron variant.

The report was expected in five to six days, he said.

Community spread can be confirmed only after the report arrives, Mr Kakani added.

According to BMC, out of 141 Omicron-positive persons who had no travel history, 93 were fully vaccinated and three had taken one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

As many as 95 of them are asymptomatic, seven have moderate symptoms and 39 have mild symptoms.

"Only seven patients, who are moderately symptomatic, have been hospitalized but they are not on oxygen," a late night BMC release stated.

(PTI)