 | Health secretary to brief Election Commission on Omicron surge as 5 states prepare for pollsThe commission may seek suggestions from Rajesh Bhushan on improving its COVID-19 protocol for poll campaigning, polling days and the dates of counting. |
 | Covid-19: US faces a double coronavirus surge as Omicron advancesBased on specimens collected last week, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said omicron accounted for about 3% of genetically-sequenced coronaviruses nationally. |
 | First Omicron death in UK, variant spreading rapidlyBritain, among the countries worst hit by the global health crisis since last year, is believed to be the first government to officially announce a death from the virus mutation. |
 | Five of seven Omicron patients in Pune test negative for Covid-19: Maharashtra Deputy CMThese seven persons, including an NRI woman and her two daughters from Nigeria, had tested positive for Omicron in Pune last week. |
 | 'Follow Covid appropriate behaviour': Delhi CM urges people not to panic amidst Omicron scareIn a high-level meeting chaired by Kejriwal on November 30, it was assessed that 30,000 COVID beds were ready. Additionally, 6,800 ICU beds will also be ready soon. |
 | Decision on Covid booster dose needed at national level: Maha Deputy CM amidst Omicron threatAjit Pawar said information available showed that those who had taken both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had also got infected with the Omicron variant. |
 | Four flyers from 'at-risk' nations test Covid positive in Delhi, eight cases so farSamples of the quartet sent for genome sequencing to ascertain if they have Omicron |
 | Over 8,000 parents urge education minister to direct CBSE to hold board exams in hybrid modeConducting offline exams under these conditions can invite medical catastrophe, the joint letter said, adding that it is going to be risky to call lakhs of students for giving offline exams. |
 | India reports 8,309 new Covid cases, 236 deaths in last 24 hoursWith this, the active caseload in the country has now reached 1,03,859, which is the lowest in the last 544 days. |
 | All government departments on high alert in view of Omicron Covid variant: Delhi Deputy CM Manish SisodiaManish Sisodia said that all government departments are on high alert in the wake of a new COVID-19 variant and appealed to people to avoid unnecessary gatherings. |
 | 'Planning to go back': Panic among international passengers amidst fear of Omicron-induced restrictionsPeople who have flown to India from the middle-east and other countries are mulling of returning before any travel bans are imposed due to the new Covid-19 variant Omicron. |
 | Australia reports first Covid Omicron infection, cases detected in SydneyThe eastern state of New South Wales' health authority said it had conducted urgent genomic testing and confirmed the new strain was present in the two people who landed in Sydney. |
 | Singapore tracking Omicron Covid-19 variant 'very closely', says PM LeeOmicron, also called B.1.1.529, has also been detected in Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong, and possibly in Germany and the Czech Republic. |
 | Covid-19 screening at three Andhra airports from December 1 amid Omicron variant threatAccording to sources in the department, the State is set to have its own Covid-19 whole genome sequencing laboratory at Siddhartha Medical College in Vijayawada by the first week of December. |
 | Australia announces border security measures to combat new Covid-19 variantUnder the measures effective immediately, anyone who is not a citizen or resident of Australia, or their dependents, and who have been there in the past two weeks can not enter Australia. |
