Omicron alarm: 50% of foreign returnees to Thane district still missing

Amid the Omicron scare, Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) chief Vijay Suryavanshi on Tuesday (December 7) said 109 out of 295 recent foreign returnees to the township in Thane district were untraceable currently.

Suryavanshi said the cell phones of some of these people were switched off while many of the last given addresses were found to be locked.

Suryavanshi said returnees to KDMC limits from all “at risk” nations have to undergo seven-day home quarantine, and a COVID-19 test will be conducted on the eighth day.

“Even if it is negative, they will have to undergo another seven-day home quarantine and it would be the duty of housing society members to ensure the norm is not violated. Marriages, gatherings etc are being watched to curb violations,” he said.

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“Some 72 per cent of the people in KDMC have taken the first dose of the vaccine and 52 per cent are fully vaccinated,” he added.

One Omicron case was detected in a Dombivali resident recently. On Monday (December 6), two more tested positive for the Omicron variant in Maharashtra, taking the state’s count to 10.

India now has 23 Omicron patients. Besides Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Delhi have reported Omicron cases.

(With inputs from agencies)