A 33-year-old man has become the first confirmed case for the new COVID19 variant, Omicron, in Maharashtra and is the fourth confirmed case in India so far. 

He tested positive in Dombivli, Maharashtra, following his return from South Africa which has been listed as one of the “high risk” countries. He travelled from Cape Town via Dubai and Delhi and landed in Mumbai on November 24. 

As per the public health department, 12 of his high-risk contacts, including his aged parents, and 23 of his low-risk contacts were traced and tested negative for COVID19. 

According to reports, Pradeep Vyas, the Additional Chief Secretary, confirmed that the genome sequencing of the man was found to be infected with the Omicron variant. 

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“Only on November 24, he developed a fever but now, he is asymptomatic and healthy. He has been shifted to an isolation centre,” Pratibha Panpatil, Chief Medical Officer of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) was quoted as saying.

It was reported that around 25 passengers who flew with him to Mumbai from Delhi have also been tested but no one tested positive for COVID19. 

As per reports, in an RT-PCR test that was conducted 72 hours prior to his inter-connected flights from Cape Town to Mumbai, the man had tested negative. Upon landing in Delhi, he was allowed to board his flight to Mumbai even before getting the results. Later, upon landing in Mumbai, he received his RT-PCR report which indicated the presence of the pathogens of COVID19. It was also reported that he had shown the earlier negative test report to the screening officer at the Mumbai airport. 

He later took a private cab from the airport and travelled 50 km to reach his house in Dombivli. 

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Till Saturday, a total of 3, 839 passengers from high-risk countries had been tested at the Mumbai airport till the morning of December 4 to keep a check on the rising cases of the new variant.