Omicron updates: India's fourth case of new variant detected in Maharashtra

The 33-year-old man from Thane district in Maharashtra who was found to be infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus is a marine engineer by profession. Due to the odd nature of his job he couldn't get vaccinated while on the ship since April despite his efforts, a Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) official said on Saturday.

A Maharashtra man who had traveled to Mumbai from South Africa via Dubai and Delhi had tested positive for Omicron on Saturday, said officials. This is the fourth case of the Omicron variant in India. | READ MORE

The Delta variant of COVID-19 remains predominant in England, accounting for over 99 per cent of all coronavirus infections, even as 75 more cases of the new Omicron strain have now been detected, taking the total to 104.

A further 16 cases have been identified in Scotland, bringing the total to 29, and with one case from Wales, the UK-wide total stands at 134.

Gujarat CM reviews preprations after first case of Omicron gets detected in state

The Central government on Saturday wrote to 5 states and one UT, with rising Covid-19 cases, in the wake of new Omicron variant scare. The MoHFW wrote to Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, J&K, Mizoram, and Tamil Nadu. 

Singapore has stopped VTL travel for work pass holders. The decision by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) comes in the wake of rising concern over the Omicron variant globally. On Friday, Singapore had announced the tightening of rules for VTL travellers in view of the new variant (Omicron). The S Pass allows mid-level skilled foreign staff to work in Singapore.

Gujarat's Jamnagar reported its first case of COVID-19 Omicron variant.

More than half of those infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant in England were double jabbed, health officials have said, as the number of cases detected in the UK continues to rise sharply, The Guardian reported.

A team of researchers has devised a test that could measure patient immunity against multiple Covid-19 variants such as Omicron and Delta at once and inform which synthetic monoclonal antibody to use for treatments.

A team of researchers in South Africa said they have found some evidence that people who had been infected once with Covid were more likely to be reinfected with the Omicron variant than with the Beta or Delta variants.

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases recorded an all-time high of 5,352 on Saturday, a day after the country announced tough restrictions for four weeks to control the spread of the omicron variant.

New cases of critically ill patients and deaths also hit record highs while an additional three confirmed cases of the omicron variant were reported to bring the total cases in the country to nine, Yonhap news agency reported.

Britain registered 50,584 new Covid-19 infections bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,379,647, according to official figures released on Friday.

The country also reported a further 143 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 145,424, with 7,373 Covid-19 patients still in hospital.

The Delta variant continues to drive Covid-19 infections in the US while cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in at least six states as of Friday.

The state government of South Australia (SA) has imposed further border restrictions amid concerns about the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

A senior BBMP health official said, "Between November 28 and December 1, 23 people arrived from South Africa,” “Eighteen have been tracked and tested and found negative, while five are still missing.”

There is currently no evidence to suggest that symptoms associated with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 are different or more severe than those of other variants, or that current vaccines and therapeutics would be ineffective against the new variant, according to a news report citing Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH).

Channel News Asia reported that the ministry said two more people infected with Omicron variant travelled through Singapore to Malaysia and Australia.

More data and further studies on Omicron are needed, the MOH said adding that it is expecting to see more such cases being reported globally in the coming weeks.

The arrival of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the U.S. has health officials in some communities reviving contact tracing operations in an attempt to slow and better understand its spread as scientists study how contagious it is and whether it can thwart vaccines.

The Bengaluru based anesthesiologist doctor, one among the first two persons to be detected with the new Covid-19 variant 'Omicron' in the country is doing fine now. His primary contacts are his wife, an ophthalmologist; daughter and another doctor who is also an ophthalmologist, are also recovering well, according to sources in the health department.

The doctor is now under isolation and observation at the designated hospital. His wife and daughter are also being treated there. An entire floor of the designated hospital has been reserved for the treatment of Omicron variant infected as well as suspected cases. Presently, six persons are being treated and kept under observation.

Germany’s health minister said Friday that more than 1% of the population — almost a million people — are currently infected with the coronavirus, and called on citizens to get vaccinated if they haven’t done so yet.

The country confirmed 74,352 new daily COVID-19 cases and 390 additional deaths, figures published by the federal disease control agency showed. According to the Robert Koch Institute’s calculations, some 925,800 people in Germany are considered actively infected with the virus.

Health Minister Jens Spahn noted that the number of unvaccinated residents who are infected and seriously ill is much higher than their share of the overall population.

The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), which confirmed the first two cases of the Omicron variant in Bengaluru on Thursday, is continuously monitoring the situation in four cities - Bengaluru, Hyderabad, New Delhi, and Pune.

The emergence of the new Covid variant Omicron will impact international tourist footfalls in Goa, the state's Ports Minister Michael Lobo has said.

A total of 30 samples have been sent for genome sequencing after airport and field surveillance to detect the presence of Omicron, the new variant of SARS-CoV2, the Maharashtra health department said on Friday.

Until Friday morning, 2,821 passengers arriving from high-risk countries at Mumbai airport have been tested using RT-PCR, with two samples testing positive, it added.

A total of 224 out of 11,060 passengers arriving from other countries have been tested as well and one sample has returned positive, a department official said.

"Additionally, field surveillance of all international passengers who have arrived since 1st November is underway. A total of 30 samples from both airport and field surveillance have been sent for genomic sequencing. Fourteen have been sent to NIV, Pune and 16 to Kasturba Hospital laboratory," he said.

Canada has confirmed 15 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus and severe illness trends across the country could start to rise again, public health officials have said.

New Jersey reported the state's first case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant late on Friday, Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement.

The French government has announced new travel restrictions that will enter into force on Saturday. Alongside France's green-orange-red classification scheme for countries according to their coronavirus epidemiological situation, the government also introduced a new list marked by scarlet that includes ten southern African countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

Toronto confirmed its first three cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant on Friday, local health officials said.

In light of the emergence of Omicron, the new variant of coronavirus, the Indian Navy has issued directions for following COVID-19 protocols, ramped up bed capacity at hospitals and prepared places for quarantine, a senior official said.

Amid growing concerns over the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, a parliamentary committee has recommended that the efficacy of Covid vaccines must be evaluated and concerns with regards to the new strain developing immunoescape mechanism critically addressed.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, which presented its report on Friday, also recommended that the government should conduct more research and examine the need of administering booster doses of vaccines to contain the new strain of the virus.

In its report, the committee said it apprehends that a rise in mutations in the virus may lead to reporting of more virulent and transmissible strain of the Covid virus in the country and strongly recommended the Union Health Ministry to adopt a zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy and closely track Covid cases across the country.

The Israeli Ministry of Health on Friday reported four new cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in the country. The fresh infections took the total number of Omicron cases in Israel to seven.

The new cases are of four passengers who have recently returned from South Africa, all of whom are not vaccinated against coronavirus, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Ministry.

The Ministry added that there is a high suspicion of another 27 cases of Omicron in Israel, for which the results of genomic sequencing tests have not been received. And 22 of the 27 people were not vaccinated, or recovered more than half a year ago. Eight out of the 27 have recently returned from abroad.

In addition, there are 14 other cases of low suspicion for the variant, as their uncertain test results were sent for re-testing.