Omicron: 40% travellers, who came from ‘at-risk’ countries, untraceable in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Amid fear of new COVID variant ‘Omicron’, as many as 40% travellers, who arrived in Odisha from ‘at-risk’ countries, are yet to be traced, informed the State Health Department.

So far, more than 800 NRIs have returned to Odisha from Omicron-hit countries, of them 40% are untraceable as they have given incorrect addresses and contact phone numbers on the Air Suvidha portal,” said Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra today.

With widespread transmission of Omicron variant, which was first discovered in South Africa, 21 cases have been detected in India till December 5. The tally is rising steadily with highest number of 9 cases of the new COVID mutant from Rajasthan followed by Maharashtra with 8.

Last week, country had reported two Omicron cases for the first time from Karnataka. Later, two more cases were detected from Gujarat and Maharashtra. On Sunday, Delhi reported its first Omicron case.

In the wake of the situation, Odisha Government has urged the Centre seeking complete list of foreign travellers visiting Odisha to carryout their contact tracing to prevent spread of ‘most contagious’ variant of COVID-19 in the State.

Also Read: Omicron scare in Odisha: 246 foreign returnees test COVID +ve; Genome sequencing result soon