Thiruvananthapuram: Even as Kerala is on alert in view of the danger posed by the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, it has come to light that a man who tested positive for it after he arrived from Africa ignored the mandated precautions and moved around visiting restaurants and a mall.

The contact list of this COVID-19 patient has expanded substantially after the health authorities quizzed him in detail. The health authorities are in the process of tracing all his contacts since arrival and charting out a route map for the public. All individuals on the contact list have been asked to report to the health authorities.

Since, the patient arrived in Kerala from Congo which falls outside the list of high-risk countries calling for mandatory quarantine period, he was under self-observation. He went out during the self-observation period, flouting the norms laid by the Centre for individuals visiting the country.

But he showed symptomsfor the disease while in quarantine at home. Tests revealed he was positive for the Omicron variant. Soon, he was shifted to the COVID-19 treatment centre at Ambalamugal.

He was not tested at the airport as the Central African country is not classified as a high-risk country for Omicron.

Omicron count so far

As of now, five cases of Omicron have been reported from Kerala.

The condition of those who were infected with Omicron in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam is satisfactory. However, the State Health Department would conduct COVID-19 tests on those who showed symptoms from among the contact list of those who were infected with Omicron. The blood samples of those who were found positive in these tests would be sent for genome testing.

The State had detected its first case of the new coronavirus variant in Ernakulam when a person who had returned from the UK tested positive. Among the four new cases reported on Wednesday are the wife and mother-in-law of this person.

Of the remaining two, one was a Thiruvananthapuram native who had returned from the UK and the other was the Ernakulam native who had returned from Congo.

Meanwhile, the Central Government team, which is on a visit to Kerala to assess the higher COVID-19 cases in the State, is set to meet the top officials of Kerala, including the State Health Department Director on Thursday.