Omicron patient "escaped", Karnataka tracing 10 missing passengers

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Omicron patient "escaped", Karnataka tracing 10 missing passengers (Image: Pixabay)
Omicron patient "escaped", Karnataka tracing 10 missing passengers (Image: Pixabay)

New Delhi : One of the two men found positive for Omicron in Karnataka has "escaped" after showing a negative coronavirus certificate from a private lab, said state government. The government is making efforts to trace down 10 more people who had gone missing from the airport.

"By tonight Friday night all 10 people who have reportedly gone missing should be traced and they should be tested. Travelers will not be allowed to leave the airport until their report is out," Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashok said after a top level meeting on Omicron.

A 66-year-old South African national found to be Omicron-infected "fled", the minister said. The 10 people, who have been 'labelled' missing have allegedly switched off their mobile phone and cannot be contacted.

"All will now be tested because one of them tested positive for Omicron even after showing a negative Covid test," said the minister.

The man had arrived from South Africa on November 20 and returned via Dubai on November 27, showing a negative RT-PCR report.

"We've lodged a complaint with the police and they will see what went wrong at the Shangri-La hotel, from where the person escaped," said

The man, fully vaccinated, checked into the hotel the day he arrived and was found to be positive for COVID-19. He had arrived with a negative Covid test report.

When a government doctor visited him at the hotel, he was found to be asymptomatic and was advised to self-isolate.

Since he had arrived from a country marked as "at risk", his samples were sent for genome sequencing which established him to be Omicron positive.

Twenty-four people who came in contact with him were tested and found to be negative. The authorities also tested 240 secondary contacts - people who had come in contact with the primary contacts of the patent - and found them to be negative as well.

On November 23, the man took another test at a private lab and the result came back negative.

On November 27, around midnight, he checked out of the hotel, took a cab to the airport and boarded a flight to Dubai.

Omicron was confirmed when he had already left the nation.