Omicron updates: Number of Omicron suspects mounts to 37 in Delhi

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India recorded 8,439 new cases and 195 deaths in the last 24 hours. Omicron, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, has caught the attention of the government as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed it as a variant of concern. According to Manindra Agarwal, IIT scientist involved in the mathematical projection of trajectory of COVID-19, the third wave of coronavirus could hit the peak by February with cases likely to be reaching up to 1-1.5 lakh a day due to Omicron. However, it will be milder than the second wave, he told PTI.

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“With the new variant, our current forecast is that the country could see the third wave by February but it will be milder than the second wave. So far, we have seen that the severity of Omicron is not like the one seen in the Delta variant,” PTI said in a report quoting Agarwal.

Here are the updates related to Omicron:

10:20 PM: According to a PTI report, there is no new case of Omicron variant in Maharashtra on Wednesday.

"There is no new case of Omicron variant in the state today. As of today, there are 10 cases of Omicron variant in the state," said a health bulletin issued by Maharashtra Government.

4.30 PM: According to a report by news agency IANS, a total of 37 Omicron variant suspects have been admitted to Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan hospital in the capital city so far. However, of the total, 28 persons have tested positive for Covid-19, as per IANS.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said on Tuesday that all passengers coming from Omicron affected regions are being tested at the airport. "So far, 37 people have been admitted to LNJP, out of which 28 have tested Corona positive", said Jain.

He informed that all the 28 samples have been sent for the genome sequencing. Of the lot, Seventeen reports are out of which only one tested positive for Omicron variant, rest are only Covid positive but Omicron negative, informed minister Jain.

On the Covid situation in Delhi, he said that 50 to 60 cases are being reported daily. However, the positivity rate continues to be around 0.1 per cent. "If the positivity rate rises to 0.5 per cent, we will implement the graded response programme in the city," he added.

Jain also made an appeal to the Centre to accept the protesting RDA doctors’ demand to run the health services smoothly amid Omicron scare in the city.

He said, "We are fully prepared to fight the third Covid surge if it comes. No scarcity of beds, oxygen and medicine will be felt, but I will appeal to all the people to wear mask which is only the biggest tool we have to fight the pandemic. We can prevent the third Covid wave by following the Covid appropriate behaviour, he added.

2.35 PM: As per PTI, a member of the Indian women's hockey team participating in the Asian Champions Trophy here has tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in the cancellation of its match against hosts and defending champions Korea on Wednesday.
After a Hockey India source confirmed to PTI that one player has tested positive, the Asian Hockey Federation too issued a statement about the development on its twitter handle without elaborating on the details of the player concerned.
"The Asian Hockey Federation regrets to inform that a positive Covid test result has been received from yesterday's routine testing for a member of Team India.
"Today's match at 15:00 between Korea and India is therefore not taking place. Further information will be provided soon," the AHF tweeted.
However, there is no official word at this point on what happens to India's remaining schedule in the tournament after this development. The team is due to take on China on Thursday in its next match.
The pandemic had cast its shadow on the tournament on Monday itself when India's second match against Malaysia was cancelled due to COVID-related issues.
Malaysia was forced to be absent from at least the first two days of the competition after one of its players, Nurul Faezah Shafiqah Khalim, tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in South Korea.
According to sources, just like Malaysia, the Indian contingent is likely to undergo quarantine after the positive result.
Last edition's runners-up, India had earlier thrashed a lowly Thailand 13-0 with drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur scoring five goals.
India are the highest-ranked team taking part as they sit ninth in the International Hockey Federation's women's rankings.
The Women's Asian Champions Trophy was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed multiple times because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.32 PM:  As per PTI, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday hinted that new COVID-19 guidelines could be brought out in view of the infections appearing in clusters and the possible scenario this month and in January next year.
"Today I will collect details pertaining to COVID-19 in November from our officials, which would be presented before the cabinet tomorrow. Whatever is happening with regard to the Omicron variant and the developments taking place in COVID-19 clusters will be placed before the cabinet and accordingly a decision will be taken on issuing a fresh set of guidelines," the Chief Minister told reporters.
Asked whether the he was mulling a new set of guidelines, Bommai said he has to keep the current situation in mind because COVID-19 cases are seen in only a few districts whereas it is in control in other places.
"If we have to bring any new guidelines it should be for the entire state. The Centre has also issued guidelines. Controlling COVID cases in December and January and the need for fresh guidelines will be discussed elaborately in the cabinet meeting," he explained.
The Chief Minister asked people, especially parents not to panic though cases were emerging in the schools and hostels
"There is no need to panic, especially parents. Children have to be cautious and the schools and colleges have to strictly abide by the COVID-19 norms," Bommai said.
He appealed to parents and teachers to take double dose of COVID vaccine if they had not done it yet.

12.21 PM: Single-day recoveries outnumbered fresh COVID-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday with five more people recuperating from the disease and one new case registered, a senior official told PTI here.
The death toll remained unchanged at 280 as no fresh fatality was recorded in the past 24 hours, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.
The frontier state has so far reported 55,295 COVID-19 cases and 54,984 recoveries, Jampa stated.
Arunachal Pradesh currently has 31 active cases, he said.
West Kameng district has 13 active cases, followed by the Capital Complex Region ? comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas -- at 10, Lower Dibang Valley at five and Tawang district at three.
The recovery rate marginally improved to 99.44 per cent from 99.43 per cent the previous day, while the active ratio stood at 0.06 per cent.
A total of 12,00,308 samples have been tested in the state thus far, 250 of them on Tuesday, Jampa said, adding that the positivity rate stood at 0.4 per cent.
According to State Immunisation Officer Dr Dimong Padung, as many as 14,27,254 people have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine, including, 2,613 on Tuesday.

10.31 AM: As per a PTI report, international travellers entering Mizoram will have to undergo mandatory Rapid Antigen Test as per the new guidelines issued by the state government in the wake of detection of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in some states, an official said.
Following the recommendations of a State Level Expert Team on COVID-19 Management, the Mizoram government has issued guidelines for international travellers, the official said on Tuesday.
According to the guidelines issued on Monday, any person entering Mizoram with international travel history within the last 14 days prior to the date of arrival at the entry point will have undergo mandatory screening with Rapid Antigen Test.
Simultaneously, samples for RT-PCR or TrueNat tests will also be taken from such travellers regardless of negative RT-PCR test results prior to entry and vaccination status, it said.
The guidelines said that if international travellers are found positive for COVID-19 through Rapid Antigen Test on their arrival or during isolation, they will be isolated or treated at facilities for international travellers and their swab samples will be sent for genomic testing.
All the community contacts of those travellers who have tested positive (during home quarantine period) would be subjected to quarantine for 14 days and tested as per extant testing protocol, the guidelines said.
If the international travellers screened with Rapid Antigen Test are tested negative without COVID-19 symptoms, they shall be quarantined at designated quarantined facilities or at home for seven-days with prior approval from the Deputy Commissioner within whose jurisdiction such persons are to be quarantined.
RT-PCR Test will be conducted on the 8th day.
Such individuals if tested negative with RT-PCR on the 8th day will be freed from quarantine but they shall continue self-monitoring for another 7 days, the guidelines said.
If international travellers screened with Rapid Antigen Test are found negative but develop symptoms of COVID-19, they will be immediately tested with RT-PCR or TrueNat facilities.
If they still test negative with RT-PCR or TrueNat facilities, they will be nevertheless isolated at designated facilities or homes for 7 days with strict self-monitoring, it said.

10.07 AM: With the addition of 94 coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 5,70,056, an official told to PTI on Wednesday.
These new cases were reported on Tuesday, he said.
As the virus claimed the life of one more patient, the death toll in the district went up to 11,590. The mortality rate is 2.03 per cent, he added.
In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case tally has gone up to 1,38,708 while the overall death toll is 3,302, an official from Palghar said.

9.20 AM: India's active caseload currently stands at 93,733 which is the lowest in 555 days. The recovery rate is currently at 98.36 per cent which is the highest since March 2020.

9.18 AM: 129.54 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified a new variant of SARS-CoV-2. It has been named as Omicron. The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus, WHO has informed.

The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24th November 2021. The epidemiological situation in SouthAfrica has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant.

It has to be noted that India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakhs on August 23, 40 lakhs on September 5 and 50 lakhs on September 16. It went past 60 lakhs on September 28, 70 lakhs on October 11, crossed 80 lakhs on October 29, 90 lakhs on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crores on June 2.