NEW DELHI – India Thursday reported two confirmed cases of a new variant of coronavirus, Omicron, in the southern state of Karnataka.
“All primary contacts and secondary contacts of both the cases have been traced and are being tested,” the Indian health ministry’s joint secretary Lav Agarwal told a news briefing.
India was scheduled to resume scheduled commercial international flights on December 15, but it Wednesday delayed the plan for an indefinite period.
The government has asked all states to enhance testing, a week after the health ministry said a recent fall in testing could dent India’s efforts to control the pandemic.
India witnessed a massive surge in Covid-19 cases in April and May this year after it was hit a Delta strain.
The country reported 9,765 new cases on Thursday, taking its total to 34.61 million.
