According to data on the Union health ministry's website, of the 142 COVID cases reported in the country till 8 am on Tuesday, 115 were from Kerala.
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.
These 25 people include the 20 who were found positive with the mutated strain on Tuesday and Wednesday.
'If you approached it with that level of aggression in 100 days, you would have vaccinated more than half of your country.' 'On a mass scale you will be able to eliminate that wave.'
'Whether the substantial hybrid immunity present in India can protect against severe consequences of the disease remains to be seen.'
'We have to ensure the European situation does not occur in India and we don't see a spread like theirs.'
They include a woman who came from Nigeria along with her two daughters to meet her brother in adjoining Pimpri Chinchwad area, the official said.
All the people who have tested positive for the new variant of the virus were kept in single-room isolation at designated healthcare facilities by the respective state governments, the ministry had earlier said.
"The man has been isolated at his home and teams of the health department have been asked to conduct tests of his family members and those who came in contact with him," CMO said.
Instructions have been given by the government to take necessary action immediately in districts where confirmed cases are found.
Mu -- also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 -- was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been 'sporadic reports' of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe, the United Nations health agency said in its weekly bulletin on the pandemic on Tuesday.
West Bengal on Wednesday reported its first Omicron case after a seven-year-old boy, resident of Murshidabad district, tested positive for the new coronavirus variant, a senior official of the health department said.
A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which cause COVID-19, has been detected in South Africa and many other countries globally which could be more transmissible and evade protection provided by vaccines, according to study.
Six Covid-19 cases were reported on Wednesday after screening 3,476 passengers of 11 flights that arrived in India from "at-risk" countries and the samples have been sent for genomic sequencing, the Health Ministry said amid concerns over the 'Omicron' variant of coronavirus.
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.
We are entering 2022, facing another infectious variant, with much the same baseless confidence, notes Mihir S Sharma.
Their samples have been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control for genome sequencing to ascertain if they have the new variant, Omicron, which has been classified as 'variant of concern' by the WHO.
Amid a rise in coronavirus cases and the threat of the Omicron variant, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday directed district magistrates to ensure no Christmas and New Year gathering takes place in the national capital.
Using this sequence data, the researchers traced the origins and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 by focusing on the tell-tale features of the virus.
In view of a spurt in coronavirus cases in the city, the Delhi government on Wednesday made wearing of masks mandatory in public places and imposed a fine of Rs 500 on violators.
This test uses an indigenously developed, cutting-edge CRISPR technology for detection of the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus, CSIR said in a statement.
Breakthrough infections of coronavirus cases comprise a very high proportion of the Delta variant, the INSACOG, a genome sequencing government consortium of laboratories, has said.
Passengers should undergo RT-PCR test and be isolated in a separate unit of an institutional facility if found positive
The assertion by the Congress came after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, citing concerns raised by three BJP MPs over the spread of coronavirus, urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to consider suspending the Bharat Jodo Yatra if adherence to Covid protocols cannot be followed.
'Delta continues to be the dominant lineage for new cases across all parts of India in recent samples and remains the most rapidly rising lineage globally that is responsible for multiple outbreaks, including across Southeast Asia, which shows the fastest growth in new cases globally,' the INSACOG said.
Mandaviya reviewed the pandemic situation, status of vaccination drive and the global scenario of new variants of Covid.
On Monday, the state had recorded 1,036 infections while Mumbai had reported 676 cases. It may be noted that generally fewer cases are recorded on Mondays as fewer tests are carried out during weekends.
As many as 141 Mumbai residents who had not traveled abroad recently tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Thursday, the civic body said.
As per the document, these 10 states are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab.
In light of the surge in COVID-19 in some countries, hospitals across India conducted a Mock drill COVID-19.
He asserted that all efforts are on to contain the spread of the virus in Kerala.
The objective of the study was to determine the genetic diversity among Indian SARS-CoV-2 viral isolates in comparison to the strains that are occurring worldwide.
According to SOP, those testing positive will be isolated in a separate unit of an institutional facility.
The Delta Plus variant have been detected sporadically in Maharashtra, Kerala and MP.
This was the maximum number of cases recorded in Delhi since February 10 when 1,104 infections were reported.
The presence of spike protein facilitates a virus' entry into the host cell and is responsible for making it transmissible and causing infection.
A new Omicron sub-variant has been detected in the majority of samples taken from Covid patients in Delhi as part of a study at the LNJP Hospital in the national capital.
'But it is only now being detected more via a test that costs about Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000.' 'The HMPV virus typically causes mild respiratory symptoms in most people, but can be more severe in young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immunity.'
Researchers have found two new mutations in coronavirus samples from Amravati and Yavatmal districts of eastern Maharashtra which can escape neutralising antibodies, a senior official said on Thrusday. Meanwhile, authorities in the two districts have announced strict implementation of restrictions, including a weekend lockdown in Amravati, to stem the rising cases of COVID-19.
The reason is that because of the hybrid immunity after three waves of natural infection and a large proportion of adults receiving both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the susceptible pool has come down drastically, Lahariya said.
