Omicron scare: Private hospitals seeking patients' travel info

The Omicron variant, found first in South Africa, has multiple mutations and led to a spike in cases in Gauteng province of the country

Not leaving anything to chance amid the Omicron scare, several private hospitals have started to record the travel history for the last two weeks of any patient who walks into the out-patient department. 

“The travel history of all patients gets documented at the time forms are filled up for admission. A patient may come with an unrelated symptom and could have visited Cape Town in the last two weeks. We have to rule out all possibilities,” said Bishnu Panigrahi, group head, medical strategy and operations, Fortis Healthcare. 

Doctors, while preparing for the worst, are also advising patients not to panic as there