No case of Omicron variant in India so far: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Amid global worries over the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that no case of the new coronavirus variant Omicron has been detected in India so far.

Speaking in Parliament, the minister said that the government is taking "all possible precautions and doing genome sequencing as well". He informed the House that till now no case of the variant has been confirmed in the country.

The Omicron variant, which was first detected in southern African countries like South Africa and Botswana, has now reached several parts of the world.

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Many countries have rushed to ban flights from several African countries.

India has issued detailed guidelines on screening of passengers from 'at-risk' countries.

Some cases of travellers from South African testing positive Covid have been reported from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chandigarh. But none so far has been confirmed for the new variant. Their genome sequencing is being done to rule out the Omicron infection.