Omicron Variant LIVE UPDATES: UK reports over 100 new cases

At least four individuals who arrived in Odisha from 'at-risk' countries -- where the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is infecting people, have tested Covid-19 positive, an official said on Wednesday, adding their samples have been sent for genome sequencing.

"As many as 982 people from various 'at-risk' countries have arrived in Odisha and four of them have tested Covid positive so far. All four persons are asymptomatic and their health condition is stable. They are under isolation now," Odisha public health director Niranjan Mishra told reporters 

BMC increased the number of beds at Seven Hills Hotel near Mumbai Airport amid rising Omicron cases in India. A facility of 250 bed has been created inside the hospital.  

Amid the cloud of concerns regarding the Omicron coronavirus variant, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr Anthony Fauci on Tuesday said emerging evidence suggests that Omicron has increased infectivity and not a "severe profile"."If one looks at the transmissibility, we have molecular evidence to suggest that the mutations that are seen in Omicron and in other variants would suggest that they are associated with increased infectivity," CNN reported Dr Fauci as saying during a virtual White House briefing."Real-world evidence is accumulating rapidly - literally on a daily basis - to allow us to determine the increase in cases, possible increase in reproductive number and the rapid replacement of Delta by Omicron in certain situations," he stated.However, Dr Fauci said that it is still too early to be able to determine the precise severity of disease caused by the Omicron variant, CNN reported.

UK reported a further 180 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 1,45,826. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

Britain registered 45,691 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,560,341, according to official figures released on Tuesday.