Tag: New Covid Variant

Besides South Africa, the Omicron strain has surged Covid cases in many countries including France, Russia, the US, and Israel. In the UK, it is expected to replace Delta as the dominant variant and the UK Health Security Agency estimates that the number of daily infections could touch 200,000.

While current Covid-19 vaccines use genes taken from the virus spike protein to encode antigens, which causes the immune system to produce antibodies, the new vaccine uses predictive methods to mimic the wider family of coronavirus antigens that researchers hope will give more protection.

The study was conducted using AlphaFold2 - a neural network-based deep learning model created by Google DeepMind - which can predict protein structure based on the genetic code.

Raising the issue of many ventilators supplied by the Centre lying unpacked and unused at some field hospitals, the Centre has asked the states to review immediately and ensure that all PSA oxygen plants, oxygen concentrators and ventilators are installed and functioning.

As Omicron is found to have more than 30 mutations in its spike protein, the main concern over its outbreak is whether disease severity is similar, milder or more severe than with the other variants.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said on Sunday that the results of 12 samples, which were sent for genome sequencing, have come out. Out of the total 12, only one has been confirmed for the Omicron variant.

As many as 380 people have returned to Odisha from countries hit by the new coronavirus strain-- Omicron, earlier this week, and all of them have tested negative, the State health department had informed on Thursday.

Under the new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from 'at-risk' countries and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the test results come. Also, randomly five per cent of the passengers arriving in flights from other countries will be subject to the test.

India has so far not reported any case of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed Parliament on Tuesday, noting that the government has taken measures to ensure that it does not reach the country.

While the scare of a possible third wave is looming over schools across the State, the number of positivity has witnessed a spike recently; especially in the residential institutions and hostels.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the new Covid variant detected in South Africa this week as the 'Variant of Concern' -- VOC, following the Technical Advisory Group meetings.

After a long hiatus of more than 20 months, the government had on November 26 announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from December 15.

Many of the changes have been found in variants such as Delta and Alpha, and are linked to heightened infectivity and the ability to evade infection-blocking antibodies.

Officials briefed the prime minister about the new Variant of Concern Omicron along with its characteristics and the impact seen in various countries, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

The variant which has been detected in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong has now forced several countries including India to initiate precautionary measures to prevent its spread.