Omicron variant: 9 more Omicron cases detected, 4 each in Maharashtra, Kerala; 1st case reported in Tamil Nadu

Four more Omicron cases have been reported from the state. With this the total number of Omicron cases reported have become five, said health minister Veena George. Among the total four cases reported on Wednesday, two are the people who have come into contact with the first positive case which was reported from Ernakulam. These two are the wife and mother of the person who had returned from the UK. The third person 35-year-old is also from Ernakulam who had come from Congo. The fourth case has been reported from Thiruvananthapuram. This 22-year-old woman had come from the UK, she said.

The co-passenger is a resident of Valarsaravakkam in Chennai. All of them have mild infection and their health condition is stable.

The EU health agency ECDC on Wednesday warned that vaccinations alone won't stop the rise of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, and said "strong action" was urgently needed. "In the current situation, vaccination alone will not allow us to prevent the impact of the Omicron variant, because there will be no time to address the vaccination gaps that still exist," Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said in a statement,

Preliminary evidence indicates that Covid-19 vaccines may be less effective against infection and transmission linked to the Omicron coronavirus variant, which also carries a higher risk of reinfection, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

The European Union's drug regulator on Wednesday recommended that a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine may be given at least two months after a first dose in those 18 years and older. A J&J booster dose may also be given after two doses of one of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded.

Uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen in sufficient quantity is of critical importance to tackle the pandemic, Bhushan said.

The Philippines has recorded its first two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in two travelers from Nigeria and Japan respectively, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday. The DOH said that the Nigerian national arrived in Manila on Nov. 30 via an Oman Air flight, while the returning overseas Filipino arrived on Dec. 1 via Philippine Airlines from Japan. The two Omicron-positive individuals are now isolated in a facility managed by the Bureau of Quarantine. The Filipino had symptoms of colds and cough upon arrival, the DOH said.