They were asked to wait for 72 hours, but the deadline passed on Sunday and the wait seems endless.
Vinay K Nandicoori, Director CCMB, stressing the need to follow Covid appropriate behaviour, said there is always a concern that all these variants have the ability to escape the immunity and can infect people who are vaccinated and even sometimes infected with the previous variants of Omicron.
Most Indians have acquired hybrid immunity which means immunity developed through vaccines and also natural infection protecting them from different COVID-19 variants.
Indian scientists as well as biotech firms have awakened to the fact that there is a genetic jackpot in the country's endogamous gene pool.
Scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad have found prominently a different variant of SARS-CoV-2 in southern parts of India, a top official of the institute said on Thursday.
There are at least seven major variants of coronavirus, including B.1.617 and B.1.351 (Beta), in Varanasi and its adjoining areas, according to a study conducted by the Banaras Hindu University and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).
Anurag Agrawal, the Director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, said the study on effectiveness of the available vaccines on the B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 suggests that post vaccination, the infections are milder.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan reviewed the status of passengers coming from the UK to India and found positive in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Kerala and their response measures in a meeting held through video conferencing.
'Since we have to stop the pandemic, we have to use the vaccines now and that is why the emergency-use approval is justifiable.'
The CSIR DG said the transmissibility of the new strain N501Y is a "bit higher" but this does not mean it is more lethal and more people are going to die due to it.
They have named this unique cluster of virus population as 'Clade A3i' found in 41 per cent of the genome sequenced in India.
Dr Mishra further explained the effect of hybrid immunity on the vaccinated population and said that it is likely to give protection to people along with the Indian vaccines administered.
These include the 25 cases which were announced till Thursday. "All the 29 persons are in physical isolation in health facilities," an official said.
Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the ministry said.
All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated health care facilities by respective state governments.
The ministry said the mutated UK strain was detected in eight samples at the National Centre for Disease Control, one at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani (near Kolkata), one at the National Institute of Virology Pune, seven at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences Hospital Bengaluru, two at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and one at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi.
The B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2, also being called a 'double mutant' or the 'Indian strain', has been found prevalent largely in Maharashtra and Delhi that have been severely hit by a devastating second wave of the pandemic.
All these people have been kept in single room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the ministry said.
The Omicron variant was first detected in India in Bengaluru with two people testing positive for it comprising a South African national of Indian origin and a doctor.
For the first time in Tamil Nadu, a lion has died of coronavirus while nine others in the pride have tested positive for the infection at a zoo near Chennai, an official said.
All these persons have been kept in single room isolation at designated health care facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the ministry said.
Nasal droplets fall within 2 metres from a COVID-19 infected person and the aerosols can travel in air up to 10 metres, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser said on Thursday, adding that proper ventilation can decrease the risk of transmission.
8 Asiatic lions in the zoo in have tested positive for COVID-19 after their saliva samples were thoroughly examined by CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, Rakesh Mishra, advisor of the premier research institute said.
'People need not panic over new research findings that coronavirus is airborne as studies cited by a group of over 200 scientists only convey it can be 'at least temporarily' in air'
It said clinical trials of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) showed that it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
Scientists associated with Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), the government panel that conducts research on different variants of the coronavirus, said they were surprised at noted virologist Shahid Jameel's decision to quit the group and wondered whether he was disillusioned with the government's handling of the pandemic.
Scientists from National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad will study the recent powerful earthquake in Nepal with an aim to identify quake prone areas.
The annual award includes a pure gold medal, a citation and a prize purse worth $ 100,000 or its equivalent in the Indian rupees.
'We still have 30,000-40,000 cases.' 'It is plateauing, but the number should definitely come down more so that we can convert the pandemic into an endemic.'
''A third wave is very likely to come because infection is still around.' 'But it can be just a ripple.'
The second phase of Covid-19 vaccination in India will begin from March ,1 in which people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday.
'No matter how much the political pressure is, I cannot say I will bring the Moon for you tomorrow!'
'If the government does its job of vaccinating all the population with the booster dose, and also monitoring the virus, and we do our job of wearing a mask and avoiding crowded places, we will be free of this virus in a few months.' time.'
'Mortality or hospitalisation has not increased in South Africa because of the new variant.' 'There is nothing to show so far that it is more infectious.' 'I am of the opinion that at the moment, there is no reason to panic.'
'In India, A3i is found mostly in southern India, and a few in Delhi. You don't see this strain much in, say, Gujarat or Maharashtra.'
'No matter how much you fast track, you cannot say, here is a highly efficient vaccine even by the middle of next year or the end of next year'
'When restaurants are open, pubs are open and people are moving around, a second wave will happen because you are giving a chance for the virus to spread.'
'Social distancing, wearing masks and hygiene should be practised more strictly.'' 'People should not assemble in close spaces as the micro droplets may hang in the air and can last for a longer time.'
A PTI tally of figures announced by states and UTs, as of 9.30 pm, showed the total number of confirmed cases having risen to close to 2.1 lakh and the death toll to approximately 6,000, showing an increase of nearly 9,000 cases since Tuesday evening and at least 273 more fatalities in this time period.
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