Amid the Omicron scare of the new variant of coronavirus, India reported 9216 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking total active cases to 99,976. Earlier on December 2, the Ministry of Health confirmed two cases of the new variant Omicron in Karnataka, both infected patients are males aged 46 years and 66 years, respectively.

The WHO appreciated the efforts of health officials of the Indian government to identify the new variant in such a quick time. The new variant Omicron was confirmed after the genome sequencing of both patients’ Covid test samples.

The Health Ministry also confirmed that they are tracing and monitoring the primary and secondary contacts of both patients, and as per the latest report 5 of the contacts have been found positive for coronavirus. However, it is not confirmed yet that if they also have the new variant Omicron.

As per reports among the two confirmed cases of new variant Omicron in Karnataka, one is a doctor with no travel history, which makes it more complicated. Speculations say that in India alone there might be more than 100 cases of new variant Omicron, as many are sacred and not reporting to the health officials.

Both infected patients were fully vaccinated and had only mild symptoms before testing positive for the Omicron variant. Dr C Nagraj, director of the state-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, said that “If there is no travel history, we have to think about possible presence in the community. The travel history probably needs to be checked again.”

The Omicron variant of coronavirus was first reported in South Africa and later spread among a minimum of 30 nations across the world. Many countries have banned their international flights, including India.

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The new Covid-19 variant, Omicron (B.1.1529) has created chaos in several countries. Declared as the variant of concern by the World Health Organisation, B.1.1529 is a highly contagious virus and is of the same category that includes the Delta variant.

In the latest update, 2 South African nationals have tested Covid-19 positive at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru.

2 South African nationals detected with omicron variant of covid-19

This has sparked concern over the Omicron variant that was first reported in South Africa. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had called a high-level meeting on Saturday and ordered the officials to intensify screening of international passengers at the airports.

The Chief Minister also asked the authorities to make the RT-PCR test report mandatory for passengers arriving from Maharashtra and Kerala.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a key meeting that was attended by top government officials to discuss the rising concerns of the Covid-19 Omicron variant in India and to intensify the vaccination drive to curb the pandemic in the nation.

Followed by the spread of the new variant of concern, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested PM Modi to stop all flights from the countries that are highly affected by the Omicron variant.

Several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Israel, France and, Italy have cancelled their flights from South Africa and other affected nations to prevent the spread of the new strain.

India on alert

India has issued an alert and intensified Covid-19 tests for the travellers who are entering the country from the countries most affected by the Omicron variant. Meanwhile, India registered 8,774 new coronavirus cases and 621 fatalities in the past 24 hours, ending at 9 am on Sunday. With this, the country’s overall caseload surged to 3,45,72,523, while the death toll reached 4,68,554. Active cases have declined to 1,05,691.

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