Coronavirus: India reports first Omicron cases; Japan lifts blanket ban on new flight bookings
- India said two cases were found among travellers, while Australia’s chief medical officer said there’s no proof Covid-19 vaccines don’t work against the new variant
- Elsewhere, South Korea will require a 10-day quarantine for all inbound travellers and a survey finds most Singaporeans back mandatory jabs
India on Thursday confirmed its first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in two people who travelled abroad, as a top medical expert urged people to get vaccinated.
The Health Ministry said the cases involved two men in southern Karnataka state who came from abroad. It did not say which country, or if they were vaccinated. Health official Lav Agarwal said all contacts of the two men have been traced and tested for the virus.
India has already classified several countries as “at risk” in response to the Omicron variant, and travellers from those countries are being tested after they arrive in India. In addition, India is testing 2 per cent of all other international travellers randomly.
Genome sequencing is also being done to detect the variant. India has tested nearly 8,000 passengers since Wednesday.
Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s top medical research organisation, urged people not to panic and get vaccinated. “Increased vaccine uptake is the need of the hour. Don’t delay in getting fully vaccinated,” he said.
Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a health policy expert, said the focus should be on finding the unvaccinated and making sure they receive shots. “Some of the hesitancy may disappear on the news of the new variant. But this can’t be taken for granted,” he said.