7 new Omicron cases in Mumbai, 1 in Vasai-Virar; all from 1 office – Times of India

MUMBAI: Eight new cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant were reported from Maharashtra on Tuesday, taking the count of infections linked to the variant to 28 in the state. Seven of the cases from Mumbai and one from Vasai-Virar were part of one office cluster, officials confirmed.
Civic health authorities said all the infected individuals were co-workers of a London returnee who had tested positive for Covid-19 in the first week of December. As part of contact tracing, the samples of his family members and co-workers were tested. The samples found positive for Covid-19 were sent for genome sequencing to NIV, Pune and Omicron was detected, said additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani. The index patient is hospitalised while the remaining seven are in home isolation.
Kakani said they have carried out contact tracing of all the positive cases and none of their immediate families have tested positive. Their low-risk contacts are also being traced. The person considered the index case had returned from London on December 3 and had visited the office where he met the colleagues, Kakani said. “Offices have to be cautious that Covid protocols are followed,” he said, adding that the foreign returnee was vaccinated with both doses of Pfizer.
State officials said three patients are completely asymptomatic and five have mild symptoms. Seven were fully vaccinated and one was unvaccinated, they added. All are in the 24-41 age bracket. The state officials said none had a history of foreign travel. While one had travelled to Bangalore and another to Delhi, the source is believed to be the man who returned from overseas. Importantly, seven of the eight have already tested negative for Covid after their initial positive reports.
Allaying fears of community transmission, a state official said since they were all linked to a foreign traveller, these cannot be termed as cases of local transmission. Of the 28 cases in Maharashtra now, Mumbai has the highest (12), followed by Pimpri-Chinchwad (10) and Pune (2). Kalyan-Dombivli, Nagpur, Latur and Vasai-Virar have one case each. After Pimpri-Chinchwad, where 10 cases were from a family cluster, this is the second big cluster found in the state.
Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the state Covid taskforce, said these are sporadic and travel-related cases. “We shouldn’t panic. Instead, we should keep our guard high,” he said. He cautioned anyone with even the slightest of flu-like symptoms should isolate and get tested.
Meanwhile, state officials tested 13,615 people returning from at-risk countries and found 30 positive. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing. Five who have reached Satara—three each from South Africa, and one each from the UK and New Zealand —tested positive on Tuesday. Kolhapur too has got two positive foreign returnees. A 49-year-old man from Mali tested positive in Nashik.