LIVE: Omicron variant updates, COVID-19 news in India - ICMR designs kit for omicron detection; 2 more cases of new variant reported in Delhi

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India recorded 6,563 new cases in the last 24 hours. India will have Omicron's third wave but it will be milder than the second wave, as per an ANI report, M Vidyasagar who is the head of the National COVID-19 Supermodel Committee . He noted that the third wave is likely to arrive early next year. On Friday, the government reported that more than 101 Omicron cases have been detected across the country, as per an ANI report.

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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 to PTI.

“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.

The number of Omicron cases in India has crosses 150 as per a PTI report. 

Here are the updates from India:

1.00 PM: Two more cases of Omicron variant of Covid detected in Delhi, total tally now 24; 12 patients discharged: Sources, a PTI report informed. 

12.40 PM: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has designed a diagnostic kit for detection of Omicron variant of the coronavirus and has invited Expression of Interest from in vitro diagnostics (IVD) kit manufacturers for undertaking transfer of technology for its development and commercialisation, as per a PTI report. 
The ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, NE, Dibrugarh, one of the institutes of the ICMR, New Delhi, has developed a novel technology -- real-time RT-PCR assay for detection of Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV2 and a kit for the same.
"ICMR is the owner of the said technology, including any underlying intellectual property(ies) and commercialisation rights. ICMR is lawfully entitled to enter into any form of non-exclusive license agreements with selected manufacturer/manufacturers, including transfer of technology through suitable agreement to any other interested manufacturers," the invitation of Expression of Interest document said.
"ICMR, New Delhi, invites Expression of Interest (EOI) through email from experienced IVD kit manufacturers for undertaking transfer of technology for development and commercialisation of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) Real time RT-PCR assay (RT-PCR) through a novel diagnostic kit, developed by ICMR," the invitation of EoI said.

12.30 PM: Five more cases of Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus were found in Karnataka taking the total to 19, as per a PTI report. 
According to Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, the five cases were detected on Sunday in Dharwad, Bhadravathi in Shivamogga district, Udupi and Mangaluru.
He said a 54-year old man from Dharwad, a 20-year old woman from Bhadravathi, a 82-year old man and a 73-year old woman from Udupi, and a 19-year old woman from Mangaluru contracted the Omicron variant.
All the infected people have been inoculated with both the doses of Covishield vaccine. Their travel history and contacts with international travellers are being ascertained.
None of them has any COVID-19 symptoms and were healthy, the department said.
The person isolated in Bhadravathi was in contact with 218 people and all of them underwent tests. Out of them, 26 have tested positive. Their samples have been sent for further probe, the department added.
Further, 18 people who were the primary and secondary contacts of the 19-year old student in Mangaluru were found COVID-19 infected.

11.39 AM: The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded one new COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 7,702, a health department official said on Monday.
The single case was detected during contact tracing, he said, as per a PTI report. 
The archipelago now has only three active COVID-19 cases and all the patients are in the South Andaman district. The other two districts - North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar - are coronavirus free, the official said.

10.25 AM: Amid the fear of spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has appealed to citizens to avoid gatherings and parties during the upcoming Christmas festival and New Year, and warned of stringent action against those who flout rules, as per a PTI report. 

Maharashtra has so far reported 54 cases of the Omicron variant. Out of these, 22 are from Mumbai, including cases found through screening at the international airport here, as per official data.

He said despite repeated appeals by the government and administration to prevent a possible third wave of COVID-19, the guidelines are not being followed properly in most places - especially at wedding ceremonies and other functions, and there is a need to curb the growing crowds at such events.

The BMC body has deployed squads at ward levels to take action against those who violate rules, he said.

9.32 AM: There have been 8,077 recoveries in the last 24 hours increasing the total recoveries to 3,41,87,017. India's active caseload stands at 82,267 which is the lowest in 572 days. The active cases account for less than 1 per cent of the total cases.

9.30 AM: 137.67 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive

8.57 AM: With the addition of 105 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,71,227, while one more death raised the toll to 11,601, an official said on Monday, as per a PTI report.

These new cases and death were reported on Sunday, he said.

The COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.03 per cent, he added.

In neighboring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,38,997, while the death toll stands at 3,307, another official said.

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 South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant.

It must 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.