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On Wednesday, India has reported 8,439 fresh Covid-19 cases and 195 deaths in 24 the last hours, as per the data updated by the Health Ministry. Currently the country's active caseload stands at 93,733, which is the lowest in 555 days, said the Health ministry. With this India's recovery rate at present has reached to 98.36%, which is the highest since March 2020, said the government.

WHO on Omicron Variant 

The Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), detected by the World Health Organization as a variant of concern, has reportedly split into two lineages BA.1 and BA.2. A variant is a viral genome (genetic code) that may contain one or more mutations, a lineage is a group of closely related viruses with a common ancestor. Health experts, however, believe that there is no need to be worried about the new lineages as of now, said a report by the Times of India.  

Covid-19 vaccinations 

About the vaccine doses Adar Poonawalla said, “I’m actually in a dilemma that I never imagined... we are producing 250 million doses a month but the good news is that India has covered up a large part of its population and we would have completed all our orders to the health ministry in a week’s time." 

Severity of Covid-19 

On Tuesday, top US scientist Anthony Fauci while speaking to AFP said that it would take weeks to understand the severity of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron. However, early indications suggest that it was not worse than prior strains, and possibly milder. 

Cases in Mumbai 

On Tuesday, the number of Covid-19 positive air travelers who have returned to Mumbai from ‘at-risk’ countries has reached to 17 with an addition of one more patient to the list, said the civic body of the city . As informed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), "the 17 foreign returnees include 13 males and four females who have tested positive for Covid-19 and have been hospitalized.