The new strain that we are listening today is Omicron. The researchers are trying to decode the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and its severity. The number of cases in India crossed 60 and three new infections have been reported in Telangana. In Maharashtra, eight more Omicron cases have been recorded and it is the most affected states in India.
Four more Omicron cases have been reported in Delhi. 28 cases in Maharashtra followed by Rajasthan at 17. Omicron cases have also been reported in Karnataka (3), Gujarat (4), Kerala (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and Union Territories of Delhi (6) and Chandigarh (1).
Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul said that, “In the wake of the last three weeks of living with Omicron, we have seen how such doubts have come up. Some of them may be genuine. We still do not have the final picture. And therefore, there is a need for us that we have to be sure about having vaccine platforms that are adaptable quickly. This possibility that we need to tweak for us to remain in the game, so to say, with changing nature of the variants remains valid.”
Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta on Wednesday said, “I don’t think that an accurate assessment of this variant’s impact has been done yet. We are taking necessary measures- testing, tracking in place.”
The new Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa and Hong Kong. The British government on Wednesday added 11 African countries to its red list which means only UK residents or citizens arriving from those countries are allowed in and need to quarantine in a hotel.