Omicron’s ominous Gujarat entry as Jamnagar NRG tests positive

AHMEDABAD/ RAJKOT/VADODARA: A 72-year-old man, who had arrived in Jamnagar from Zimbabwe, was confirmed as the state’s first case of Omicron variant of Covid-19 on Saturday. This marked the variant’s ominous entry into the state sending the medical and health administration in a tizzy.
The elderly man of Gujarati origin is currently stable and under observation, said state health department officials.
In addition to the septuagenarian, three persons – a 44-year-old UK women resident of Gujarati origin and a 69-year-old man from Vadodara who landed at Ahmedabad airport and a 53-year-old doctor from Navsari who landed at Mumbai airport – have tested positive upon return from the UK.
All three have been isolated at various hospitals and their samples have been sent for genomic sequencing to ascertain whether they are carrying the Omicron variant.
Gujarat’s Omicron confirmation came on the heels of India reporting its first two cases of the variant in Karnataka. State administration huddled in top level meetings to discuss strategy to keep a hawk’s vigil on the spread and symptoms of Omicron which has triggered resurgence of Covid cases in several parts of the world, including South African nations.
Newly-appointed CM Bhupendra Patel chaired an emergency meeting convened with senior home and health department officials. Patel said that Gujarat would follow 3T - testing, tracing and treatment - to counter Omicron cases.
Manoj Aggarwal, ACS (health), said in the meeting that beginning December 1, over 4,500 persons arriving from ‘at risk’ countries have been screened. “The 72-year-old elderly had arrived in Jamnagar on November 28 from Zimbabwe and tested Covid-positive on November 30. He has been kept in an isolation ward at GG Hospital,” said Aggarwal.
Jamnagar municipal commissioner Vijay Kharadi said the isolation ward where the elderly is admitted is declared a micro-containment zone.
The man, living for decades in Zimbabwe, had landed at Ahmedabad international airport and had travelled to Jamnagar by road with two other persons. Both have tested negative, but are kept under isolation and observation, said Jamnagar district officials. All high-risk contacts of the man have tested negative, they added.
Meanwhile, a 44-year-old woman, a UK citizen with Gujarati roots, tested positive on Friday night through the RT-PCR test. The woman was sent to a private hospital in Karamsad, said medical officers at the airport.
“She had come to visit her maternal grandparents at Mahapura village near Vadodara. A few days ago, they fell sick due to age-related complications. As they have been admitted in the hospital at Karamsad, she preferred to get admitted at the same hospital. Her condition is stable,” said officials.
An elderly man from Karelibaug area of Vadodara and a doctor from Valsad are other two patients who tested positive upon return to India. Their samples are sent for sequencing, said state health department officials. The Vadodara man and his wife are quarantined at a hospital. The doctor from Navsari had returned from the UK on November 24. At the end of his seven-day quarantine period, he had tested positive, said Navsari authorities.
The experts raised the question about the efficacy of the testing at the airport and also recommended more stringent checks. “The negative RT-PCR is required for air travel. It means that all must have had the report. Then how come they tested positive upon arrival? We need to be on guard with all Covid protocols to ensure that the cases don’t multiply,” said a public health expert.