Omicron Variant Highlights: China reports second case of new Covid variant

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is calling for thousands of volunteers to staff new vaccination centers in shopping areas, stadiums and racecourses as the government accelerates its booster programme to combat the omicron variant of COVID-19.

The drive comes two days after Johnson set a target of giving booster shots to all adults by the end of this year to stem the tide of omicron.

Amid rising concern for Omicron cases across the globe, China has reported its second case of the new variant of Covid 19. The case is detected in a 67-year-old man who tested positive after more than two weeks of quarantine, official media reported Tuesday.
State broadcaster CCTV said the man returned from overseas on Nov. 27 and underwent two weeks of isolation, during which he repeatedly tested negative for the virus

Germany has launched its Covid-19 inoculation campaign for children aged between five and 11 years with pre-existing conditions based on the recommendation of the country's Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO).

This week, low-dose BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines will be distributed to paediatricians and vaccination centres for administration in all federal states, the Ministry of Health (BMG) said.

South Korea has extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month due to the global spread of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

In the advisory, the Ministry recommended citizens to cancel or postpone non-essential trips abroad until January 13, while asking those overseas to take measures to prevent exposure to the virus, such as refraining from going to large-scale events, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The travel advisory was first issued in March and has been extended every month as countries have continued to struggle with the pandemic.

The Ministry said it plans to review changing the special advisory in phases into a warning system for each country, depending on the virus situation and the vaccination rate in foreign nations and progress in travel bubble consultations.

Two doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines generate lower levels of antibodies against the Omicron variant of coronavirus, according to a study which suggests that those previously infected or vaccinated may be at an increased risk of infection.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK analysed the impact of the Omicron variant of concern on one of the immune responses generated by vaccination.

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted on the preprint repository MedRxiv on Monday, used blood samples from individuals who had previously received two doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, and a live virus isolate.

Four more people tested positive for the Omicron variant of Coronavirus in Rajasthan on Monday taking the tally to 17 in the state, health officials said.

Of the four, three had come in contact with an infected family which returned from South Africa. Health officials confirmed that a woman who came from Ukraine via Dubai has also tested positive.

Delhi's first patient of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a 37-year-old man, has been discharged from the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital, officials said on Tuesday.

The man, a resident of Ranchi, had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there, to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2. He stayed in Johannesburg in South Africa for a week and had mild symptoms.

The LNJP hospital has been designated for treating patients infected with the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

A 35-year-old man with travel history to Zimbabwe and South Africa has also tested positive for Omicron, becoming the second patient in the national capital to get infected with the new variant of the coronavirus. 

South Korea on Tuesday marked its deadliest day of the pandemic as an unrelenting, delta-driven spread stretched thin hospitals and left people dying while waiting for beds. Health experts warn that the country's medical system is quickly approaching its limits and that fatalities could worsen if the government continues to be slow and hesitant in tightening social distancing.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Tuesday that 94 virus patients died in the past 24 hours while a record 906 were in serious or critical condition.

Seven COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a health bulletin said on Tuesday. The Union territory's caseload remained unchanged at 7,698 as no fresh infection was registered, it said.

A total of 7,562 people have recovered from the disease so far, including one in the last 24 hours, while 129 patients have succumbed to the infection to date.

The administration has tested over 6.45 lakh samples for COVID-19 thus far, and inoculated over 2.98 lakh people, of whom 2.76 lakh have been fully vaccinated.

An eastern Chinese city registered 37 locally-transmitted confirmed Covid-19 cases, local authorities have said.

Researchers at IIT Delhi's Kusuma School of Biological Sciences have developed an RT-PCR based assay for the specific detection of the Omicron (B.1.1.529.1) variant of SARS-CoV-2.

China has reported its first case of Omicron variant of COVID-19 amid a spike in coronavirus infections stated to be that of new Delta strain "sub-lineage AY.4", prompting authorities to bar millions of people in the eastern province from travelling. The first case of Omicron variant of coronavirus was reported in Tianjin city in north China, state-run CGTN-TV reported on Monday.

A person who came from overseas was tested positive for the new variant, the report said. Details on the person's nationality or travel history were not immediately disclosed.

Officials said the individual is an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient and its respiratory specimen has shown existence of the Omicron variant on December 9 after tests.

The person was under closed-loop management since entry to Tianjin and is now being treated in isolation in hospital, the report said.