Three international travellers test positive for COVID-19 in Mumbai, total rises to 13

Mumbai, Dec 4: Three more passengers who arrived at the Mumbai airport from abroad in the recent days tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, a civic official said. The total of such travellers found with COVID-19 infection since the government made RT-PCR test mandatory for those returning from high-risk countries -- over concerns about the Omicron variant -- rose to 13.

The state on Saturday also recorded its first Omicron infection case. "Out of 2,794 tests done so far, 13 travellers, including one woman, who came from high-risk countries have tested positive for COVID-19. Their swab samples have been sent for genome sequencing," said a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official.

"Four persons who came into contact with these travellers here also tested positive for COVID-19," she added. All these persons have been shifted to hospitals and their close contacts are being traced, the civic official added.

As many as 3,760 travellers from high-risk countries had arrived in Mumbai till Friday evening since testing began, the official said.

A 33-year-old man from Thane who had arrived at the Delhi airport from South Africa before flying here has tested positive for the Omicron variant, making him the first such case in Maharashtra, officials said earlier in the day. PTI