Omicron Scare In India: Botswana Woman Goes Missing In Jabalpur

Omicron Cases In India: In Madhya Pradesh, a search is on to find a woman from Botswana who arrived in Jabalpur on November 18. In wake of the new variant omicron, India has adopted a stricter screening and tracking process for travellers from affected countries.

The search has been launched by the district administration and the Department of Health. Along with a search team, they have distributed a helpline number to get the information on the missing woman. Air India had promised to offer details on the woman.

The teams have searched guest houses and hotels in the city of Jabalpur have not been able to locate the woman. They have identified the woman as a 24-year-old and her name is Khumo Oremeet Selyn.

An official from the Department of Health said that the team had reached out to a woman whose phone number was mentioned on the passenger list. However, the woman has denied landing at Jabalpur and said that she is with the embassy in New Delhi. The officers from Jabalpur to Bhopal have been put to work to locate the woman.

Meanwhile, all the passengers on the said Air India have submitted samples for the genome sequencing process. The same would be taken from the woman, once found.

Omicron Cases In India: Finding The Botswana Woman

According to the News18 report, the woman was found by the authority in the Military hospital at Jabalpur today. She has been quarantined and her samples have been sent for the genome sequencing process as per the regulations set by the Ministry of Health on Friday.

Similarly, two citizens of South Africa who arrived in Bengaluru on November 11 and 20 tested positive for COVID-19 after an RT-PCR test was conducted. The authorities were able to trace them back and they were isolated immediately. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Rural district K Srinivas, the test result shows that they have tested positive for the Delta variant.

The states and union territories of India have started a rigorous check on the new variant which has been called the "variant of concern" by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The DG Council of Scientific Research and Industrial Research Dr Shekhar C Mande said that the situation with the new variant is concerning but not alarming. While stating that surveillance is in full swing, he said, 'We are observing the situation in other countries like the Netherlands, Germany, and of course hotspot South Africa and it is a bit concerning but I would not say alarming."

The Indian government has classified 11 countries as 'at risk' which includes the UK and Europe. While Japan has announced a ban on travel to southern African countries from November 30. Canada, Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy have already stopped flights from southern Africa.

Suggested Reading:

Is COVID-19 New Variant More Transmissible? Here’s What WHO Said On Omicron

New Coronavirus Variant Omicron: Here’s How It Was Found

WHO’s Dr Soumya Swaminathan Warns Against New COVID-19 Variant Omicron

Also Trending: