Tag: Omicron Variant

India saw 22,775 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 4,81,080 with 220 daily fatalities, the data stated.

As per a notification issued by BMC, all religious institutions like temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches will remain closed for public from December 31, 2021 (tomorrow) to January 2, 2022 within BMC jurisdiction.

The Delhi health minister had on Wednesday said many international travellers who tested negative at the airport are found to be Covid positive after a few days. During this period, they are infecting their family members, he said.

Mumbai presented a shocker with nearly doubling of new Covid-19 infections - from 1,333 on Tuesday to 2,510 within 24 hours, besides one death and a recovery rate of 97 per cent.

The parents and family members of the returnee were tested for Covid-19 twice after he was tested positive. However, they were found negative both times. 

Omicron, first detected from southern Africa in late November, has become dominant in several countries including the US and the UK, outpacing the previously dominant Delta variant, which was considered to be the dominant strain in many countries until recently.

The active cases have declined to 75,456, according to the data updated at 8 am.

Meanwhile, various state governments have announced curbs to stem the worsening situation due to the Omicron variant. The night curfew has been imposed in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

As per the guidelines, Christmas celebrations shall be limited to churches with a maximum of 50 persons joining the mass by strictly following the Covid protocols and in the specific conditions as imposed by district magistrates/ municipal commissioners while permitting such mass, if any.

"If possible, consider postponing the election, because rallies and meetings can be held later when we all survive," he said.

Official sources said Modi will take stock of the pandemic situation across the country On Thursday.

The Odisha government is also not leaving any stone unturned to combat the eventualities arising out of the new Covid variant. The State Chief Secretary on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the situation and chalk out a roadmap to deal with any emergency situation arising out of the new Covid variant.

Naveen Patnaik’s appeal came a day after Odisha has reported its first two cases of the Omicron infection on Tuesday. While one of the patients who tested positive for Omicron had returned from Nigeria, the other is an arrival from Qatar.

The Union Health Ministry said that the number of cases of new Covid strain Omicron has crossed the 200 -mark in India.

Despite having three mutations that were predicted to favour the spike cleavage, the researchers found the Omicron spike protein to be less efficient than the Delta spike at cleaving the ACE2 receptor and entering the lung cells.