Omicron threat: We need to be prepared for any eventuality, says Randeep Guleria amid rising COVID-19 cases in UK

New Delhi: In view of rising COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria said that India should prepare itself for any eventuality. 

Dr Guleria told ANI on Sunday, "We should prepare and hope that things are not as bad as in the United Kingdom. We need more data on Omicron. Whenever there is a surge in cases in other parts of the world, we need to monitor it closely and be prepared for any eventuality. It is better to stay prepared than to get caught off-guard." 

According to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), another 12,133 Omicron cases have been recorded in the UK, the biggest daily increase since the Covid-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total Omicron cases found in the country to 37,101.

The UK reported 82,886 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 11,361,387, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the official figures released on Sunday.

The number of confirmed cases is down again on Saturday`s figure of 90,418, but figures are generally lower over the weekend. On Friday, the UK reported a record high of 93,045 confirmed cases.

The UK registered a further 45 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the UK now stands at 147,218, with 7,611 Covid-19 patients still in hospital, said media reports.

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid reportedly said the new variant is spreading "very, very quickly", even more so than the figures suggest.

He is quoted as saying that the "actual number of infections will be significantly higher than case numbers suggest" because not everyone will be taking a test and there is a lag for people to get their test results back.

Meanwhile, the British government`s advisory scientists have warned extra restrictions are needed "within days" to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by Omicron.

Omicron count crosses 150 in India 

India's Omicron Covid count rose to 153 on Sunday after Maharashtra reported six and Gujarat logged four more cases of the new variant of coronavirus, respectively. 

Omicron cases have been detected in 11 states and union territories -- Maharashtra (54), Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17) and Karnataka (14), Telangana (20), Gujarat (11), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1), said a PTI report citing central and state officials. 

The health department reportedly said that six persons tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Maharashtra on Sunday, raising the state's tally of such cases to 54. Notably, two of these patients had a history of travel to Tanzania, while two others had returned from England and one from the Middle East. All five of them are fully vaccinated.

Another patient is a five-year-old boy from Junnar in Pune who is a close contact of Dubai travellers from Junnar, it said in a statement, adding "Total six cases were diagnosed today - four of them found during the airport screening in Mumbai. One of these four patients is from Mumbai, two from Karnataka and one from Aurangabad." Out of 54 cases in Maharashtra, 22 have been found in Mumbai.

In Gujarat, a 45-year-old NRI and a teenage boy who came from the UK, a Surat-based woman who had recently visited Dubai and a Tanzanian national are the new patients of the Omicron variant. The non-resident Indian tested positive for the coronavirus infection in the RT-PCR test carried out at the Ahmedabad international airport soon after he arrived from the UK on December 15, a health department official reportedly said on Sunday.

A 15-year-old boy from Gandhinagar was also detected with the Omicron variant after returning from the UK, Gandhinagar Municipal Commissioner Dhaval Patel told PTI.

The woman from Surat had gone to Dubai with her two sons and returned on December 5. On December 13, while on her way back to Dubai, she tested positive for COVID-19 in an RT-PCR test carried out at the Surat airport, health officials said, adding that all her contacts, including her son and daughter, have tested negative for the virus.

While Omicron was first reported in South Africa on November 24, India's first two cases of this heavily mutated version of the coronavirus were detected in Karnataka on December 2. 

The Omicron coronavirus variant has been reported in 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to three days in areas with community transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

According to the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year. On November 26, the WHO reportedly named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as `Omicron`. The WHO has classified Omicron as a `variant of concern`. 

(With Agency Inputs)

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