Community transmission? 141 Mumbai residents without travel history get Omicron

PTI

Mumbai: As many as 141 people tested positive for the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus on Thursday (December 30) and none of them had travelled abroad recently, the civic body said.

Out of all the 153 people who tested positive with Omicron, only 12 of them had international travel history. As per BMC data, at least 160 people in Mumbai got Omicron despite no overseas travel.

This suggests that community transmission of the variant might have begun in Maharashtra’s capital, however, only further data will ascertain the stage of transmission.

Mumbai is worst affected

According to the Maharashtra government's release, issued earlier in the evening, out of 198 Omicron cases reported in the state, a whopping 190 were from Mumbai only.

The difference in state and BMC statistics could not be reconciled. As per the BMC update, the tally of Omicron-infected Mumbai residents without a history of overseas travel rose to 160.

The total of Omicron cases in the city rose to 290. Of 141 Mumbai residents without travel history who tested positive to Omicron, the highest 21 are from the K-west ward which includes Andheri West, Juhu and Versova, followed by D ward that includes Malabar Hill, Mahalaxmi and Tardeo areas.

Community transmission stage in Mumbai?

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani told PTI that the BMC would be sending 375 more samples for genome sequencing on Friday to check if there has been community spread of the Omicron variant.

The report was expected in five to six days and community spread can only be confirmed only after the reports come out.

Section 144 imposed in Mumbai

To curb any further spread of the virus during the New Year festivities, the Mumbai police on Friday imposed Section 144 in the city till January 7 banning any large gatherings, public parties.

According to BMC, out of 141 Omicron positive persons who had no travel history, 93 were fully vaccinated and three had taken one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

As many as 95 of them are asymptomatic, seven have moderate symptoms and 39 have mild symptoms.

(With PTI inputs)