MUMBAI: Mumbai saw a massive surge in fresh coronavirus cases yet again today with 3,671 infections – 46% higher compared to yesterday – amid concerns over Omicron, the new variant which has been labeled as “highly infectious” by experts and has sparked worry over a third wave in the country.

India’s financial capital has seen a five-fold increase over the last week in the daily surge in Covid cases – the city logged 683 infections last Friday.

Fearing a fresh coronavirus wave, the city’s civic body – the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation – has reactivated its ward-level war rooms to tackle the increasing number of cases.

These war rooms are set up in all 24 wards to manage hospital admissions, oxygen and medicine requirements and vaccination as well.

The war rooms – that follow the “test, trace and treat” strategy – also keep a track of patients isolated at their homes.

While cases have been rising, the Mumbai civic body has said, more than 90 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic.

This afternoon, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met the state’s Covid task force. One of the key discussions at the high-level meeting was on the new variant that is believed to be driving up the infections in the state, which has the highest overall cases in the country (66,65,386).

In Mumbai, despite a ban on large gatherings ahead of the New Year’s celebrations, the streets are still witnessing huge crowds.

Across India, so far 961 Omicron cases have been logged so far, the government said today, stressing the country is prepared to tackle the spike and there is “no need to panic”.

Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Bengaluru are among the other big cities that have witnessed an uptick in infections over the last week.

NEW DELHI: The recently-detected Omicron variant of coronavirus is thrice as contagious as the Delta variant, the Centre informed the state governments on December 21, as it instructed them to take proactive measures to contain its spread.

The Centre has asked the state and district authorities to consider imposing containment measures in areas where a surge in positivity rate is reported.

ALSO READ: Centre warns states, UTs to ‘activate’ war rooms, emergency operation centres as Omicron 3 times more transmissible than Delta

“Omicron is at least three times more transmissible than Delta. Hence, even greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making and strict and prompt containment action are required at the local and district level,” news agency ANI quoted Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan as saying in his letter to the state governments.

“The decision making at the State/UT and district level must be very prompt and focused and take containment measures and restrictions even before these thresholds are reached,” Bhushan added.

The health secretary stressed that there should be constant review at the district level of the population infected by COVID-19, the geographical spread of the latest identified cluster, the prevalent hospital infrastructure and its utilization.

“Kindly activate the war rooms/EOCs (emergency operation centres) and keep analyzing all trends and surges, no matter how small and keep taking proactive action at the district/local level. Regular reviews with field officers and proactive action in this regard will definitely control the spread of infection and flatten the curve,” Bhushan said.

ALSO READ: Over 200 cases of Omicron detected in India, Maharashtra, Delhi have 54 cases each

In case of all new clusters of COVID-19 positive cases, prompt notification of ”containment zones” and ”buffer zones” should be done, and strict perimeter control of containment zone according to extant guidelines must be ensured, the letter underlined, further stating that all cluster samples must be sent to INSACOG Labs for genome sequencing without delay.

Bhushan also noted that test positivity of 10 percent or more in the last one week or bed occupancy of 40 percent or more on oxygen supported or ICU beds should be main elements of the framework to be used by states and Union territories to facilitate decision making at the district level.

The assessment of Omicron being more contagious than Delta raises concern as the latter is considered to have triggered the devastating second wave of the pandemic in India, between April and June this year.

ALSO READ: Assembly polls in Goa, other states could be postponed as Omicron spreads like wildfire?

On December 11, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also noted that there is considerable evidence which suggests Omicron is “spreading significantly faster” than the Delta variant.

“And it is more likely people vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 could be infected or re-infected,” Ghabreyesus said.

The WHO’s statement echoed the finding of a recent study conducted by Imperial College London, which suggested that the risk of reinfection due to Omicron was five times higher. It further said that the variant has shown no sign of being milder than Delta.

The Indian health ministry had last week advised citizens to avoid unnecessary travel, abstain from mass gatherings and observe low-intensity festivities around the New Year period.

WASHINGTON DC, (Reuters): Moderna Inc said on Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against the fast-spreading Omicron variant in laboratory testing and that the current version of the shot would continue to be its “first line of defense against Omicron.”

The vaccine maker said the decision to focus on the current vaccine, mRNA-1273, was driven in part by how quickly the recently discovered variant is spreading.

The company still plans to develop a vaccine to protect against Omicron and hopes to start clinical trials early next year, it said. Moderna’s shares rose 6.7% to $314.51 in early trading.

“What we have available right now is 1273,” Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said in an interview. “It’s highly effective, and it’s extremely safe. I think it will protect people through the coming holiday period and through these winter months, when we’re going to see the most severe pressure of Omicron.”

The company said a two-dose course of its vaccine generated low neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant, but a 50 microgram booster dose increased neutralizing antibodies against the variant 37 fold. A higher, 100 microgram booster dose of the same vaccine drove antibody levels even higher – more than 80 times pre-boost levels.

Moderna President Stephen Hoge said on a conference call the company currently does not plan to pursue approval for that higher dose. The antibody levels generated by the lower dose shot “are comfortably above” the levels that would signify a risk of ‘breakthrough’ infections for other variants of concern, Hoge said.

The data, which has not yet been peer reviewed, tested blood from people who had received the vaccine against a pseudovirus engineered to resemble the Omicron variant. It is similar to data discussed last week by top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. It may not be necessary to push up antibody levels even higher than those generated by the 50 microgram dose for many people, said Hoge. Governments could, however, choose a higher-dose version if they want to confer an enhanced level of protection.

“Could higher be better? Absolutely. But do we have data on that today to make a conclusive recommendation? No,” said Hoge. The company said that the 100 microgram dose was generally safe and well tolerated, although there was a trend toward slightly more frequent adverse reactions.

U.S. regulators authorized the 50 microgram booster of Moderna’s vaccine in October. The first two shots of Moderna’s vaccine are both 100 micrograms. Both the Moderna and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines have been linked to rare cases of heart inflammation, particularly in young men. Several studies have suggested that Moderna’s vaccine is likely to cause the heart inflammation at a higher rate than Pfizer’s.

Omicron, a highly contagious variant first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong, has raced around the globe and been reported in 89 countries, the World Health Organization said on Saturday. (Reuters)

Cairo [Bahrain], December 11 (ANI/Sputnik): The first case of the Omicron coronavirus strain was detected in Bahrain, the ministry of health said on Saturday. “A case of infection with the Omicron strain of COVID-19 was identified in a patient who arrived from abroad,” the ministry said on Twitter.

It was further reported that the infected person had no close contact with anyone once he had arrived in Bahrain. Lebanon’s ministry of health had also confirmed the country’s first two positive Omicron cases.

“Two positive cases [whose samples] were subjected to genetic sequencing, are indeed infected with the Omicron variant,” the ministry confirmed earlier on Saturday. The infected are isolating at home and showing only mild symptoms.

Omicron was first detected in South Africa in late November. The strain was designated as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization due to its high transmissibility.

Amid fears of growing COVID-19 infections, many countries imposed harsher travel restrictions on foreigners arriving from Africa. Despite that, the variant has started to pop up in dozens of states including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and many more. (ANI/Sputnik)

WASHINGTON DC, (AFP): The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected in 38 countries (two more suspected cases in different nations) but there are no reported deaths so far from the new Covid-19 variant, the World Health Organization said Friday.

A WHO spokesman told reporters that the UN health agency had “not seen reports of Omicron-related deaths yet”.

And Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said Omicron had been reported in 38 countries, with the variant now spread across all six WHO regions.

The WHO has said it will take several weeks to determine how infectious Omicron is, and to assess how vaccines, tests and treatments hold up against it.

But it insisted Friday that scientists were well on top of it and would be able to produce those answers soon. “We’re going to get the answers that everybody out there needs,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said.

“We need to trust in the science now and be patient and not be fearful.”

Van Kerkhove told viewers on social media there were some suggestions that the variant was showing increased transmissibility — but it would take a few more days to get a clear picture.

As for severity, the initial reports came from a cluster of university students and younger people tend to present milder disease, she said.

Of the mild Omicron cases found so far, Van Kerkhove said they were mainly travellers — and people who were sick would not be getting on planes in the first place. Therefore, it is “really too soon” to draw conclusions about Omicron’s severity, she said.

On vaccines, the WHO stressed there was no reason to doubt the effectiveness of the current vaccines.

“Right now there is no need to change the vaccines we’re currently using,” said Ryan.

“There is no evidence to support that. But there’s a lot of work going on to look at if we were to change, how might we change those vaccines? Get vaccinated. Right now that’s your best bet.”

Omicron was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on November 24, while the first known laboratory confirmed case was identified from a specimen collected on November 9.

Van Kerkhove said a backlog of virus sequences had built up in November, meaning some of the earliest cases may yet be found outside South Africa.

The Delta variant accounts for 99.8 percent of sequences uploaded to the GISAID global science initiative with specimens collected in the last 60 days.

“Delta has outcompeted all of the other variants circulating. With Omicron, we have to see what happens,” said Van Kerkhove. (AFP)

DUBLIN, (Reuters): The Irish government on Friday announced strict new limits on the hospitality sector and home visits to try to push down COVID-19 infection rates after officials said the new Omicron variant was likely to add to pressure on the health service.

Ireland has been reporting COVID-19 case numbers near record highs since early November, even though 91% of eligible people over the age of 12 are fully vaccinated. The death rate has been far lower than during earlier waves and case numbers have stabilised. But health officials are concerned that even if Omicron does not evade vaccines, it could significantly increase already high infection numbers.

“If Omicron takes hold and if it is more transmissible, the potential for a very serious crisis is obvious,” Prime Minister Micheal Martin said in a televised address, saying that he had received “very stark” advice from health officials. “The risk associated with proceeding into the Christmas period without some restrictions… is just too high,” Martin said.

Under the measures that will be in place from Tuesday until Jan. 9, indoor events will have to operate at 50% capacity, a measure promoters say will make concerts unprofitable.

Bars and restaurants, which have been subject to various levels of restrictions since the start of the pandemic, must not accept bookings for more than six people and must only offer table service, the government said.

People should only welcome visitors from a maximum of three other households to their home, it said. Nightclubs, which opened for the first time in over 18 months in October, will have to close under the new rules.

“It is utterly devastating,” said Angela Dorgan, Chair of the National Campaign for the Arts lobby group, which has said restrictions during the pandemic have been unfair to the arts and nightlife.

Martin said the government would ensure that the entertainment sector had the necessary financial support. (Reuters)

TEL AVIV, (PTI): Israel’s Health Ministry said Friday it has confirmed seven cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, stoking fears of a pending surge in infections. Four of the confirmed cases are unvaccinated individuals who had recently returned from South Africa.

The other three include two people who returned from South Africa and from Britain and who had received two doses and a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The third person returned from Malawi and had been inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders to all non-Israeli citizens following the discovery of the first case of the omicron variant last week. Israelis from abroad are allowed to return home.

The ministry said it has a “high suspicion” that another 27 identified cases of the coronavirus are also the new variant. Eight of them are individuals who had either travelled abroad or been in contact with a recent arrival who has tested positive for omicron.

The rest could not be connected to foreign travel — an indication the omicron variant could now be spreading within Israeli towns and cities.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett — in conjunction with Israel’s Ministry of Health — drafted a set of new measures designed to fend off the spread of the omicron variant. These include fines of 2,500 shekels, or about $790, for returning Israeli travellers who fail to take a second PCR test, as well as an initiative to promote vaccination in schools and by local authorities.

Israel had announced it would use the country’s controversial phone tracking technology to help trace possible cases of the new coronavirus variant.

That plan was however halted on Thursday, following widespread criticism that it would violate individuals’ privacy rights.

Israel, a country of over 9 million people, has reported 8,199 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. Most of its population — over 6.3 million people — has received at least one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and more than 4 million Israelis have received a booster. (PTI)