CHENNAI: Even as the number of Omicron cases has climbed to 49 in India, Tamil Nadu reportedly suspects the variant in a 47-year-old passenger who travelled to Chennai from Nigeria. The passenger, who arrived in Chennai on December 10, was tested positive for Covid-19 and has been hospitalized.
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, and Chandigarh have reported Omicron cases in the country till now.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), Omicron appears to have a growth advantage over Delta. It is spreading faster than the Delta variant in South Africa where Delta circulation was low, but also appears to spread more quickly than the Delta variant in other countries where the incidence of Delta is high, such as in the United Kingdom.
Whether Omicron’s observed rapid growth rate in countries with high levels of population immunity is related to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility, or a combination of both remains uncertain. However, given the current available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace the Delta variant where community transmission occurs, WHO added.
By now, the Omicron variant has been detected in more than 70 countries.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, as many as 94 Covid-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday while a record 906 Covid patients were in serious or critical condition, reports quoting the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said.
China has reported two Omicron cases. The country's economically important Zhejiang province is battling a Covid outbreak that has left half a million people quarantined and some districts under business shutdown.
Zhejiang, a major industrial and export hub on the country’s east coast and one of China’s leading provinces in terms of GDP and exports, reported 44 of the country’s 51 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.
The US air force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate, reports say.
According to The New York Times, Omicron carries about 50 mutations not seen in combination before, including more than 30 mutations in the gene for the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to attach to human cells.