Omicron Explained News Today

South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe are on Maharashtra’s high-risk list and passengers need to go through tests and quarantine.

DNA Explainer: How new COVID-19 variant Omicron is different from Delta and should we worry about it - Gene sequencing of the Omicron variant showed it had 43 aa mutations in the spike proteins as compared to 18 in the Delta variant.

A look at countries where new COVID-19 variant Omicron has been detected - Botswana reported 19 infections of the new variant, including four declared last week. Hong Kong is the second country to report two cases of Omicron.

Explained: What we know about new COVID-19 variant Omicron and why it is worrying scientists - This variant has drawn particular scrutiny because it has more than 30 mutations of the spike protein that viruses use to get into human cells.

DNA Explainer: Symptoms and risks associated with Omicron variant of concern - Health experts are deeply concerned due to the unusual constellation of mutations and a profile that is different from other variants of concern.