Omicron crisis: 12 foreign returnees untraceable in Thane's Kalyan Dombivli area

As many as 12 of over 300 recent foreign returnees are untraceable in Maharashtra’s Thane district, an official said amid rising concerns over the spread of the new highly transmissible coronavirus variant, Omicron.
Maharashtra has, so far, reported 10 cases of the new strain, the highest in the country. On Tuesday, officials of Thane district’s Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) said at least 12 people of the 318 passengers who returned from abroad are missing.
Civic body chief Vijay Sooryavanshi said a search operation is on to locate them. "Some of the passengers who returned cannot be reached as their mobile phones are switched off, while the addresses that the others gave are locked up," he said.
Also read | After 10 Omicron cases in Maharashtra, Aaditya Thackeray offers suggestions to Centre
The KDMC chief said a team from the health department would again visit the given addresses.
Similar reports of foreign returnees have been reported from other states, including Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, in the past few days.
The new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. The global health body said the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.
On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron' and classified it as a 'variant of concern'.
(With inputs from agencies)
-
Delhi: From a granary to creative business street
For the uninitiated, Dhan Mill Compound, a former granary and a cluster of warehouses, has morphed into the city’s modish food, fashion, design and lifestyle destination. Its streets are lined with art cafes, home décor outlets, ateliers, art galleries, pottery studios, dance halls and high-end boutiques, whose facades and interiors are as interesting and experimental as the wares they deal in. Interestingly, all of these fancy establishments are housed in re-purposed warehouse buildings, which still have metal roofs.
-
Over a million got jobs on Rozgar Bazaar: Delhi govt
According to a Delhi government official, a break-up of the total jobs, including the list of employers and the number of people they hired, will be shared “in a couple of days”. Notably, the government portal was launched by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on July 27, 2020, to help entry-level and blue-collar job seekers connect with employers at a time when the Covid-19 induced lockdown left many people unemployed.
-
Govt to urge Centre to reduce tax for SUP options: Delhi minister
“Manufactures, and start-ups which are working on alternatives to single-use plastic have to pay more GST for raw material. Hence, the Delhi government will write to the Centre and request a reduction in GST rates,” Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said.
-
Delhi weather: Yellow alert issued till Tuesday
Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, recorded 0.1mm of rainfall between 8:30am and 5:30pm on Sunday. The Capital recorded 1.9mm of rainfall on Saturday and 117.2mm on Friday, making the monthly total 119.2mm so far. The normal monthly average for July is 210.6mm, said weather experts.
-
Delhiwale: Six shades of monsoon
Monsoon elevates Adam Khan’s tomb into an emergency sanctuary for passersby (and dogs) speared by sudden showers. Perched atop a Mehrauli hillock, the monument overlooks the Qutub Minar, which appears totally bechara and defenceless in the heavy rain.