Breaking LIVE: UK Returnee Tests COVID Positive In Kerala; Canada Confirms 15 Omicron Cases

Breaking News LIVE Updates Dec 4, 2021: The Centre on Friday said it anticipates the severity of the Omicron variant of coronavirus to be low in the country given the fast pace of vaccination and high exposure to the Delta variant. The health ministry, however, said the scientific evidence for the expected severity of the disease is still evolving, as debates about the booster jabs heat up and several states ramp up testing and step up surveillance for the potentially more contagious variant. The ministry also noted there is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on the new variant that was reported by South Africa to the World Health Organisation(WHO) on November 24. In the Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said RT-PCR tests have been conducted on 16,000 passengers from “at-risk” countries, of whom 18 have tested positive for Covid-19. The number of the positive cases is expected to be slightly more than 18 going by reports from states. The health ministry said while there is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, some of the mutations reported may decrease the efficacy of the jabs. The ministry, however, underscored that definitive evidence for new variant’s increased remission and immune evasion is awaited.