S Africa returnee jumps home quarantine in Chandigarh, goes to 5-star hotel

A woman who returned to Chandigarh from South Africa two days ago allegedly broke home quarantine and went to a five-star hotel here, prompting authorities on Friday to order strict action against her for violating Covid protocols for travellers, especially those arriving from "at-risk" countries where Omicron variant has been detected.

After returning from South Africa, the woman reached a housing society in Sector 48-B here on December 1, according to an official order.

On December 2, she broke the quarantine protocol and went to a five-star hotel here in the evening and later left the hotel late in the night to go back home, it said.

She has allegedly violated the home quarantine Covid protocol for international travellers from "at-risk" countries.

The Health Department authorities here ordered that strict action be taken against her for violating the quarantine protocol.

The director, Health Services, has been asked to arrange for an RT-PCR test of all the staff of the hotel immediately.

The order said the woman's RT-PCR report on December 1 was negative and a repeat sampling, as per current protocol, was due on December 8.

The authorities concerned have directed the hotels/guest houses here to ascertain travel history of the guests for the last 15 days at the time of their check-in.

Earlier, a 39-year-old Chandigarh resident who had returned from South Africa a few days ago had tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and his sample was sent to Delhi for whole genome sequencing.

The B.1.1.529 Covid variant or Omicron, first detected in South Africa last week, was designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a variant of concern, the health body's top category for worrying coronavirus variants.

Meanwhile, amid concerns over the new variant, the administration here stepped up surveillance of those returning from abroad.

The administration held a review meeting here earlier this week and the authorities concerned have been asked to ensure enforcement of the Covid protocols.

The country's first two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were recorded in Karnataka-- in a 66-year-old South African flyer and a 46-year-old Bengaluru doctor with no travel history and both men fully vaccinated.