Africa-Press – Gambia. Covid-19 Active Cases India Dec 18 updates, New Omicron Variant Cases in India: The Omicron variant has been reported in 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community transmission, the WHO said on Saturday.Coronavirus LIVE News: India’s Omicron COVID count rose to 126 on Saturday after Karnataka and Kerala reported six and four cases respectively, while three more persons in Maharashtra also tested positive for the variant. According to central and state officials, omicron cases have been detected in 11 states and union territories — Maharashtra (43), Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17) and Karnataka (14), Telangana (8), Gujarat (7), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1).
While the country’s first two cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Karnataka on December 2, this heavily mutated version of the coronavirus was first reported in South Africa on November 24.
The Omicron coronavirus variant has been reported in 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday. Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity, but it is unclear if this is due to the virus’ ability to evade immunity, its inherent increased transmissibility or a combination of both, the WHO said in an update. The agency designated Omicron a variant of concern on November 26, soon after it was first detected, and much is still not known about it, including the severity of the illness it causes.
With the number of Omicron cases rapidly rising in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued a call to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings, and observe low-intensity festivities. “Local restrictive measures” are to be implemented in 24 districts from seven states, including nine in Kerala and eight in Manipur, with a weekly test positivity rate above 5 per cent. The Centre also warned it is likely that the spread of the new variant will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission. This comes as India’s Omicron tally went past 100 cases on Friday, after recording the highest single day rise of 24 fresh cases and affecting 11 states and UTs across the country.
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