UK records 1st death due to Omicron; 2 new cases in Maha, tally touches 40
London/New Delhi: One person in the United Kingdom has died due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday, reported BBC.
Earlier in the day, Johnson warned that the nation will see a 'tidal wave' of Omicron variant, even as the country's Coronavirus alert level was raised to four due to the spread of the super mutant strain of the lethal virus. Level four means a high or rising level of transmission — the last time the UK was at this level was in May.
Declaring an "Omicron emergency", Johnson also set a new booster target — the third doses will be offered to everyone over 18 in England from this week, three months after their second dose, the BBC reported. People have been told to work from home from Monday "if they can", as part of the UK government's introduction of Plan B measures. "I'm afraid we're now facing an emergency in our battle with the new variant Omicron," said Johnson.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) told AFP: "It appears indeed that this is the first confirmed Omicron death."
But the Centre said many cases around the world were not genome-sequenced, so it was "impossible to know whether this is the first Omicron death".
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported two more patients infected with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 — both having a travel history to Dubai — taking the overall tally of those affected with the new strain in the state to 20, the health department said on Monday.
This has taken the total tally of the new variant in the country to 40.
Both the patients, including a woman, are asymptomatic and were fully vaccinated, the health department added.
Two new cases have been found to be infected with Omicron, according to a report released on Monday by the National Institute of Virology — one from Latur and one from Pune, the department said. Covid is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The Pune case is a 39-year old woman, while the Latur patient is a 33-year-old male.
Both the patients have a travel history to Dubai, it said in a bulletin.
India's Covid tally rose to 3,46,97,860 with 7,350 people testing positive for the infection in a day, while the number of active cases declined to 91,456, the lowest in 561 days, the Union Health Ministry data showed on Monday.
The death toll from the pandemic has climbed to 4,75,636 with 202 new fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 133.79 crore on Monday, the Union Health ministry said while more than 60 lakh (60,49,911) shots have been administered till 7 pm.
