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

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday will have a short duration discussion on the situation arising out of Omicron variant cases being reported in the country.At least nine members have given notices on the Omicron variant issue, which is in surge in some parts of the world and some cases have been reported in the country also.

The World Health Organization warned Tuesday Omicron was spreading at an unprecedented rate and urged countries to act, as drug maker Pfizer said its coronavirus pill was effective against the variant. Dutch primary schools will close early as Europe battles a fresh wave of infections and hospital admissions, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a major parliamentary test seeking to impose fresh Covid curbs.

All three U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccines appear to be significantly less protective against the newly-detected Omicron variant of the coronavirus in laboratory testing, but a booster dose likely restores most of the protection, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The United States, the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, crossed 800,000 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed. The figure is greater than the entire population of several states, including North Dakota and Alaska.

Amid growing concerns over Omicron, Covid vaccination is going on at full steam in the capital. A total of 2.44 crore vaccine doses have been administered in Delhi so far. These include 1.45 crore first doses and 98.8 lakh second shots. Over 1.5 crore people are eligible for Covid vaccination in the capital. Delhi government has said that it is prepared for tackling any situation in the wake of the Omicron threat and, as part of the preparations, it has put stress on increasing the vaccination coverage.

The civic body has sent his samples for genome sequencing to the Pune-based NIV lab to check if it is a case of Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. NMC officials said that a three-member team from Mali had reached Nashik city on Sunday for official work and was put up in a hotel. The NMC team had collected swab samples of the trio on Monday and one of them tested positive.