India has his first two cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus confirmed. According to the Indian Ministry of Health, these are two men in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. They came from abroad, the ministry said on Thursday, but did not say where from. All contact persons were found and tested for the virus.
In response to the threat posed by the Omikron variant, India has already classified at least twelve countries as “at risk” and six as “particularly at risk”. As a precaution, some Indian states have put in place strict restrictions on international entry, including mandatory corona testing for people from South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.
Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s most important medical research institution, called on the population to get vaccinated. “Don’t hesitate to get a full vaccination,” he said. But there is no reason to panic.