6 Passengers From ‘At-Risk’ Countries Tested Covid Positive: Maharashtra

Mumbai:

Six worldwide passengers arriving from ‘in danger’ international locations – which embrace those who have confirmed circumstances of the extremely transmissible Omicron pressure – have examined Covid optimistic, the Maharashtra Well being Division stated Wednesday morning.

All six are both asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and their samples have been despatched for genome sequencing, the Well being Division stated. Contact tracing for all six passengers is underway.

Three of the six have been traced to the Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali and Meera-Bhayandar areas, with the fourth traced to Pune. Two others – arrivals from Nigeria – have been traced to Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Beginning right now, airports in India have enforced strict quarantine and testing guidelines for passengers from ‘in danger’ international locations, amid rising concern over the entry and unfold of the Omicron Covid pressure in India.

The brand new guidelines embrace necessary exams for these passengers – they can’t depart the airport with out the outcomes being declared. A destructive check must be adopted by seven days of dwelling quarantine.

Maharashtra has ordered necessary seven-day institutional quarantine for all passengers from nations on the Well being Ministry’s ‘in danger’ checklist, which incorporates the UK and international locations in mainland Europe, South Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Israel, and New Zealand.

Passengers arriving from ‘in danger’ international locations must isolate at designated resorts at their very own price – a rule that was introduced late final night time, when a number of worldwide flights had been mid-air. They may also be required to take three RT-PCR exams – on the second, fourth, and seventh days after arrival.

Two per cent (earlier 5 per cent) of these from international locations apart from these deemed ‘in danger’ can be given PCR exams on arrival; if these are destructive, they are going to nonetheless must dwelling quarantine for 2 weeks.

A optimistic check in both case will see the passenger shifted to a hospital for therapy.

Additional, all worldwide passengers travelling to the state should submit a declaration itemizing the international locations visited within the final 15 days, which can be cross-checked by immigration; incorrect data will make them accountable for motion underneath the Catastrophe Administration Act

Equally tight screening guidelines have been enforced in different airports, together with on the Indira Gandhi Worldwide Airport in Delhi. All worldwide arrivals can be examined for COVID-19, with a destructive outcome permitting them to depart the airport however nonetheless observe dwelling quarantine protocols for seven days.

At Chennai, passengers from ‘in danger’ nations can be examined and may solely depart on a destructive outcome. Two per cent of these from different international locations can be examined too, though they will depart with out having to attend for the check outcomes.

Present exams – each fast antigen and PCR – can choose up indicators of Covid even when the infecting pressure is Omicron, the federal government instructed states and UTs yesterday, urging them to ramp up testing.

Well being Minister Mansukh Mandaviya yesterday instructed Parliament the Omicron variant is just not but in India. Nevertheless, a senior physician on the government-run ICMR instructed NDTV the pressure is probably going already right here.

Omicron – designated a ‘variant of concern’ by the WHO – is believed to have 50+ mutations, together with over 30 on the spike protein, which makes it significantly extra infectious than different identified variants.

Researchers are nonetheless figuring out if that is extra deadly, and if present vaccines shield in opposition to Omicron.