BMC to trace travellers who arrived from ‘countries of concern’ in last 2 weeks

BMC will source such data from authorities at Mumbai airport and are now starting to trace such travellers and test them for the new variant.

Mumbai Concerned about the outbreak of the Omicron variant, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to trace travellers who arrived in Mumbai from ‘countries of concern’ in the last two weeks. The BMC has said that they have sourced such data from authorities at Mumbai airport and are now starting to trace such passengers and test them for the new variant.

BMC had issued an advisory requesting citizens to take more precautions against new variant (HT File)

The BMC had issued an advisory requesting citizens to take more precautions on Saturday. The BMC said that all international passengers arriving at the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) from ‘countries of concern’ including countries from Africa, would be made to undergo mandatory RT-PCR testing for Covid-19, and if found positive, would be sent to an institutional quarantine centre.

The BMC had also said that the travel history of all international passengers would be verified through their passports on arrival. However, in all this, the BMC officials have said that tracing and testing those passengers who have already arrived in the city also becomes crucial.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC said, “We have collected information regarding tracing passengers who have arrived from countries of concern in the past two weeks from the airport and are segregating it district-wise. We are going to test such passengers and ask them to follow home quarantine regulations.”

However, if any of the passengers who have arrived from the countries of concern tests positive, they will be subjected to institutional quarantine and their samples will be sent for genome sequencing. According to BMC, countries of concern include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique apart from some Middle Eastern and European countries.

However, experts have said that citizens do not need to panic but continue following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. Dr Madhav Sathe, former microbiologist at Nair Hospital, said, “We do not need to panic for now but continue following Covid-appropriate behaviour irrespective of the spread. Whether Omicron will have any Impact in India or not, but one good thing that is going to happen is that the public will be more cautious.”

Dr Sathe added, “South African Medical Association has stated that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 causes mild infection with two to three days of muscle pain, tiredness and mild cough. These cases were seen more in unvaccinated people, and there has not been any rise in hospitalised patients. Hence, we do not need to panic but remain vigilant.”

Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of Maharashtra State Covid-19 task force, took to Twitter and said, “Nothing to worry about. Just be alert vigilant and follow all guidelines.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday, 210 cases were reported in the city followed by four deaths taking the tally to 762,584 and toll to 16,330. The city’s recovery rate is 97% and there are 741,515 recoveries in the city. The mortality rate in the city is 2.14% and there are 2,192 active cases in the city.