George said this was detected months ago in Indian passengers who were screened at Singapore Airport.
Covid is growing milder with time but an occasional surge in cases is expected because the virus that causes it is now endemic and constantly evolving, say scientists while assuring that there is no cause for concern.
There is so far no evidence that the second wave of COVID-19 in the country is due to variants of the virus, but it is possible, said noted virologist Shahid Jameel.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the EG.5 strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulating in different parts of the world, including India, as a 'variant of interest' but said it did not seem to pose more of a threat to public health than other strains.
Ten states and Union Territories have so far detected the presence of the JN.1 sub-variant of the virus.
'The fortunate part is that the severity is less. New strains are continuously forming and the virus is getting less severe.'
The Kraken COVID-19 variant accounts for almost 41 per cent of all Covid infections.
'We really need to look seriously to see if there are any local variants.'
Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in Mumbai for December 11 and 12, prohibiting rallies, morchas, processions etc of persons and vehicles.
The official said multiple samples were sent for genome sequencing, and one of them tested positive for the JN.1 variant.
Two known Omicron sub-variants -- rather than any new variants -- have chiefly been responsible for the recent Covid-19 surge in China, according to a study of cases in Beijing published in The Lancet journal.
Beijing on Wednesday shut down 40 subway stations -- about 10 per cent of the total -- and 158 bus routes metro stations besides schools, restaurants and businesses and ordered daily COVID-19 testing of its 21 million residents as the Chinese capital ramped up measures to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant which has brought the financial hub Shanghai to halt for over a month.
"The COVID-19 cases are rising, but hospitalization and deaths are still less," said sources.
The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organisers said on Thursday, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the event.
'It is important for all of us to understand to have 1. COVID-19-appropriate behaviour, even after vaccination and 2. to try to increase the vaccination drive.'
India has declined assistance offered by the United Nations of its integrated supply chain for COVID19-related material, saying the country has a "robust system" to deal with the required logistics, a spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
The B.1.617 variant was first detected in India and was divided in three lineages -- B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3.
Dr Fauci, who is fully vaccinated and has been boosted twice, is currently experiencing mild symptoms.
America's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said that the new COVID-19 Omicron variant is in 'fluid motion' in South Africa and the US scientists are in 'very active' communication with their colleagues in that country to test the strain, get facts and find out whether or not it evades the antibodies.
Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus on Friday said though COVID-19 is no longer a health emergency for the world, it is still a 'global health threat' and a new variant of coronavirus is already under the scanner.
Of the seven cases, three were found in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said.
With Christmas and the New Year approaching, doctors at some hospitals in the city also referred to the detection of the first case of the new JN.1 variant of the coronavirus in the country and asked people to exercise extra caution.
A total of 263 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country so far, with about half of them recorded in Kerala, according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG)'s data updated on Tuesday.
According to some experts, there is not much difference in the number of seasonal flu cases and that of COVID-19, even though they stressed that surveillance for newer variants should continue in the off chance of a new lineage of coronavirus catching the country off guard.
The board said the Mzansi Super League will be replaced by a domestic T20 Challenge tournament featuring eight first division teams.
This comes amid the rising concerns of the new COVID-19 variant 'Omicron' which is being reported by foreign countries.
The new COVID-19 variant, which threatens to wreak havoc in South Africa, has led to considerable concerns about India's tour of the Rainbow Nation next month and there could be changes in the quarantine rules for players in the coming days.
Manchester United suffered an outbreak of COVID-19 among players and staff on Sunday, jeopardising their next Premier League game against Brentford.
According to SOP, those testing positive will be isolated in a separate unit of an institutional facility.
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.
In view of a new contagious variant of COVID-19 being found in South Africa, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Saturday said that all the passengers coming to the city from that country will be quarantined.
Top officials of health ministry on Thursday informed a parliamentary panel that there are 23 cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 and authorities are closely monitoring the situation, government sources said.
'I think we just got to make the protocol we set out: that if you're flying from China, you got to be tested, and so on'
Soumya Swaminathan called on governments to boost exercises on reporting actual numbers.
XE, the latest mutant of Omicron may be more transmissible than the previous ones, the World Health Organization has said.
Former South Africa batting all-rounder Farhan Behardien is hoping that the new COVID-19 variant, which is causing alarm here, will not jeopardise India's tour of the country next month as young cricketers of his nation need the series "more than ever".
Mortality rates were 0.7 per cent for Delta, 0.4 per cent for the original Omicron variant and 0.3 per cent for Omicron BA.2.
The former India captain also backed out-of-favour all-rounder Hardik Pandya to regain his place in the side after returning to full fitness.
In the ensemble trial, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was 85 per cent effective against severe/critical disease and demonstrated protection against hospitalisation and death. The vaccine was consistently effective across all regions studied globally, including in South Africa and Brazil, where there was a high prevalence of rapidly emerging Beta and Zeta variants during the study period.
India's largest online travel agency, MakeMyTrip said that it is premature to assess the impact of Omicron variant on overseas tour bookings. Others in the travel sector however are worried about cancellations in the coming days as countries tighten travel restrictions. "It is too early to assess the impact of the new Covid-19 variant on outbound travel. "Additional protocols are already set in any case from several countries which will help contain the variant coming to India.
