Omicron live updates: Pfizer pill becomes 1st US-authorised home Covid treatment

Faced with a surging Omicron variant, US authorities will distribute 500 million free Covid-19 tests, mobilize military medical personnel if needed and increase vaccination capacity, a senior White House official said Tuesday. "We have the tools to get through this wave," the official said, noting there are no plans to impose new restrictions. If Americans "are vaccinated and follow the precautions that we all know well, especially masking when traveling, they should feel comfortable celebrating Christmas and the holidays

The Biden administration will open federal Covid-19 testing sites in New York City this week and buy 500 million at-home rapid tests that Americans can order online for free starting in January as it tries to tackle the Omicron variant sweeping the country. Striking a more dire tone about the risks of remaining unvaccinated, President Joe Biden will lay out the initiatives on Tuesday in a speech that aims to persuade Americans to protect themselves from the fast-spreading variant, a senior administration official said.

BSP MP Danish Ali who attended Lok Sabha proceedings on Monday has tested positive for Covid-19. The parliamentarian, who is fully vaccinated, has mild symptoms.

Iran's envoy to Yemen died of Covid Tuesday despite his evacuation from the rebel-held capital Sanaa in a rare exemption from a Saudi-led air blockade, the foreign ministry said. Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh blamed the "slow cooperation of certain countries" in facilitating the Saturday evacuation for the death of envoy Hassan Eyrlou.

The complete COVID vaccination has crossed the 75 per cent mark in Kerala as over two crore people have received both the first and second doses of the jab, the state government said here on Tuesday.A total of 2,60,09,703 crore people- 97.38 per cent of the total population to be vaccinated, have taken the first dose of the jab while 2,00,32,229 people-75 per cent- received the second shot, state Health Minister Veena George said here.

As the case tally of the new variant of Covid-19 variant Omicron in India touches 200, South African Medical Association Chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee on Tuesday said that most patients in her country recovered from the variant with a simple and an easy line of treatment. Dr Angelique Coetzee, the senior doctor who first identified the variant, said that the line of treatment for Omicron patients is "quite easy". "We start immediately after the diagnosis with low dosage cortisone and something like ibuprofen to help with the muscle pain and headaches and that's it. That's what we give. There's nothing else. There's no oxygen, not even antibiotics required," she said.

Health experts have warned of "viral blizzard" in the US as the new Omicron variant is spreading rapidly nationwide and has already been detected in at least 41 states.In recent weeks, Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalisations have all surged in the country, with many parts experiencing high levels of community transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A total of 34 cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported in Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, out of which 17 patients have been discharged and the rest of the patients are admitted in other hospitals, informed Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday."Out of the Omicron patients who have come to LNJP, 3 cases have been reported, who have no travel history, who did not go abroad," said the Health Minister in a statement issued today.

Twelve people in Britain have died with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Monday, refusing to rule out a tightening of social restrictions before Christmas. Britain has reported record levels of Covid-19 cases, with officials and ministers warning that the full effects of the latest wave are still yet to be seen.