The World Health Organisation on Monday warned that the global risk from the Omicron variant is "very high" based on early evidence, saying the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with "severe consequences."
The states were advised to conduct surveillance and report district-wise severe acute respiratory illness and influenza-like illness cases on a daily basis and also to send these for genome sequencing to the mapped INSACOG laboratories.
Amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday cautioned against complacency and directed officials to strengthen the ongoing surveillance measures, especially at international airports.
A case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN. 1 has been detected in Kerala as part of an ongoing routine surveillance activity of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a senior official from the Indian Council of Medical research (ICMR) said on Saturday.
George said this was detected months ago in Indian passengers who were screened at Singapore Airport.
Deaths are significantly less in the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in comparison to the second wave, and the current surge is not witnessing increase in severe illness or death following high vaccination uptake, the government said on Thursday.
Ahead of the budget session of Parliament, more than 400 Parliament staff members tested positive for COVID-19, according to official sources.
These include the 25 cases which were announced till Thursday. "All the 29 persons are in physical isolation in health facilities," 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.
The double mutant variant, also known as B.1.617, is mostly dominating Maharashtra (761), West Bengal (124), Delhi (107) and Gujarat (102).
The official said multiple samples were sent for genome sequencing, and one of them tested positive for the JN.1 variant.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting with states and Union Territories on Tuesday and advised them to ramp up testing for early identification and management of cases.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit AIIMS, Jhajjar on April 10 to oversee the mock drill, officials said on Sunday.
'If there are any symptoms/variants of concern, states can prepare accordingly.'
At present, no Omicron variant has been reported in India, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya 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.
India has recorded 1,134 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases increased to 7,026, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.
He urged people not to panic and clarified that there was no change in the guidelines for international air travel so far.
They have named this unique cluster of virus population as 'Clade A3i' found in 41 per cent of the genome sequenced in India.
Out of two cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus that have been detected in Bengaluru, one is a South African national who has left the country after testing negative, while the other is a local with no travel history, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike said on Thursday.
Twenty-two cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country till Thursday, with 21 cases being reported from Goa and another from Kerala, official sources said.
The government decided to enhance surveillance and containment effort within the state by tracking and quarantining the primary and secondary contacts of the COVID-positive persons.
Amid growing concerns over the spurt in COVID-19 cases in China and some other countries, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the focus is to ensure that no unknown variant of the virus enters India and at the same time there is no impediment to travelling.
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.
An advisory in this regard will be issued by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at a virtual meeting with the health ministers of the states and Union territories at 3 pm on Friday, the sources said.
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.
In the wake of Omicron cases being detected in a few places in the country, the Union health ministry on Wednesday wrote to states and union territories, stating that patients of the new coronavirus variant have to be treated in designated COVID facilities with separate isolation area.
Head of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at the ICMR Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said the apex health research body will begin a study on the effectiveness of the vaccine against coronavirus infection next week.
Samples of six other people, who tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Kalyan-Dombivli area of Thane district from different countries, have been sent for genome sequencing and the results are awaited, another official said.
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.
As a proactive step, the government has already placed nations, where this VoC has been found, in the category of 'at risk' countries for additional follow-up measures of international travellers coming into lndia from these destinations, he said in a letter dated November 27.
Both are under home isolation in Virudhunagar. Their samples would be sent to the state lab for whole genomic sequencing.
Testing for influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infections cases has been the pillars of COVID management for the government.
Amid a gradual rise in daily Covid-19 cases, the Union health ministry said on Thursday that the XBB.1.16 subvariant of Omicron might be the dominant virus strain in the country but there has been no reported increase in the rate of hospitalisation or death so far.
Till January 11, the number of people affected by this strain of the coronavirus was 96.
Cases with the Omicron variant have already been detected in Karnataka and Gujarat.
Professor Shankar Balasubramanian has been awarded the prize, worth 10,000 pounds, for his work on Solexa sequencing, the high speed genome sequencing technology that means it is now possible to sequence a human genome for less than $10,000.
It is the second death due to this variant in Maharashtra as it had claimed the life of an 80-year-old woman from Ratnagiri district on June 13.
The Union health ministry on Friday urged eight states and Union Territories to take up immediate containment measures including preventing crowds, conducting widespread testing as well as increasing vaccine coverage on a priority basis in districts where the Delta Plus variant of coronavirus has been detected.
A 38-year-old man undergoing treatment in Kerala's northern Malappuram district has been confirmed to have contracted Mpox infection, the state health department said on Wednesday.
