Omicron The New Variant of Concern
The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021 in South Africa and it was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021.
This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning and this variant of concern (VOC) is named as Omicron by WHO on 26.11.2021.
First, This variants of SARS-CoV-2 are named after Greek alphabets, but for naming omicron, the experts skipped two letters Nu and Xi and chose omicron instead.
As per WHO, this VOC has been demonstrated to be associated with one or more of the following changes at a degree of global public health significance such as increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology,
increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation or
decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics measures in this VOC infection management.
In India as per our Prime minister Modi 's instructions,
our Ministry of Health and Family Welfare adds Hong Kong and Israel to the list of countries from where travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in India, including post-arrival testing considering the detection of new COVID variant 'Omicron' in South Africa.
And also Countries from where the travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in India are South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Israel, Hong Kong, countries in Europe including the UK.
Individuals are also reminded to take measures to reduce their risk of COVID-19, including proven public health and social measures such as wearing well-fitting masks, hand hygiene, physical distancing, improving ventilation of indoor spaces, avoiding crowded spaces, and getting vaccinated.
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