Authorities say all contacts of both the cases have been traced and are being tested
\n BENGALURU
\nIndia has detected its first two cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, both in the southern state of Karnataka, a health ministry official said on Thursday, as the government urged more widespread testing.
\n\u201cAll primary contacts and secondary contacts of both the cases have been traced and are being tested,\u201d the health ministry\u2019s joint secretary, Lav Agarwal, told a news briefing.
\nThe two patients were displaying mild symptoms, officials said.
\nIndia\u2019s priority is to fully vaccinate all of India\u2019s 944 million adults ahead of administering booster shots. About 84% have received a first dose and about 49% a second.
\nIndia was set to restart international flights on Dec. 15, but on Wednesday scrapped that plan and said a resumption date would be announced in due course.
\nAfter battling a record jump in infections and deaths in April and May, coronavirus cases have come down substantially in India.
\nThe country reported 9,765 new cases on Thursday, taking its total to 34.61 million. Only the United States has reported more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities say all contacts of both the cases have been traced and are being tested BENGALURU India has detected its first two cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, both in the southern state of Karnataka, a health ministry official said on Thursday, as the government urged more widespread testing. \u201cAll primary contacts and secondary contacts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-230650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n