Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
India is bolstering its Covid-19 genome sequencing efforts as it hopes that early detection of the newly-emerged Omicron variant will help avoid a repeat of the Delta-fuelled wave of infections that brought its health system close to collapse earlier this year.
Public health officials aim to analyse positive tests from airports within 48 hours and more than a dozen state-funded laboratories could be included in the current 38 that are part of the Indian SARs-COV-2 Genomics Consortium, or INSACOG, according to Priya Abraham, director of India’s National Institute of Virology.
“We learnt a lot from the second wave,” Mr Abraham, whose state-funded institution has been instrumental in detecting and mapping Covid in India, said. “The country as a whole and the government of India realizes this capacity has to be exponentially expanded.”
However, concerns remain about gaps in India’s overall Covid-19 surveillance, especially given its past track record of lax imposition of testing and isolation protocols ahead of the emergence of the newest variant.
After opening up its borders to foreign tourists in recent weeks, following dwindling infection rates, India on Wednesday will re-impose airport testing and home quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals from countries that have registered omicron cases.
The variant, which was first identified in southern Africa last week, is feared to be more transmissible and able to evade vaccine barriers than the predominant Delta strain that emerged in India.
Despite the moves to ramp up both testing and sequencing, some government officials and experts speculate that Omicron may already be circulating in the nation that’s home to about 1.4 billion people, but which along with other large countries like China and the US has yet to detect a single case.
Abraham’s NIV, which holds a library of about 300 Covid-19 strains and is headquartered in the western city of Pune, will also seek to isolate Omicron to allow Indian vaccine makers, including Bharat Biotech International and the Serum Institute of India, to potentially calibrate their shots to the new variant. Spokespeople from both companies weren’t able to immediately comment.
The moves follow criticism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for months downplayed the early warning signs of Delta’s existence before it was designated a variant of concern in May, allowing mass public gatherings to continue during state elections and religious events despite soaring infection rates.
Efforts by a number of Indian laboratories to map the progress of the virus were also severely hampered last year by an inadvertent import ban on the chemical reagents needed by sequencing machines.
While it was eventually overturned in January, the 10 original institutions that formed INSACOG in December last year took a number of months to gear up – just as delta began its spread across the country.
“There’s definitely more preparedness compared to last time,” said Mr Abraham. “We’ve got that structure in place — if anything we’ve expanded, we are also networking with some of the major medical schools, that network is much stronger and wider.”
INSACOG’s target to analyse 5 per cent of all positive Covid-19 samples was largely abandoned during India’s second wave as infection rates peaked at more than 400,000 a day in May, leading to widespread oxygen, hospital bed and drug shortages.
Since then, infections in the country have plateaued to below 10,000 a day, attributed in part to increased vaccine uptake along with high levels of exposure to the disease.
Mr Abraham said there was scope to do more sequencing in light of the new variant, but pointed to wider improvements in India’s health care system, with oxygen plants created and a vaccination campaign that gained momentum in recent months after a stuttered start thanks to an early shortage of shots.
“The experience of the second wave in India was a profound shock and that has helped to shape public opinion and government policy towards ensuring that India should never go through this again,” said Gautam Menon, a professor of physics and biology at Ashoka University who has worked on modelling outbreaks.
“Caseloads are low in India at the moment and that will help to divert sequencing and surveillance to this effort, at least initially,” he said. “I am more concerned right now about lags in reporting, which is certainly not happening in real-time.”
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 10.4-inch IPS LCD, 400 nits, toughened glass
CPU: Unisoc T610; Mali G52 GPU
Memory: 4GB
Storage: 64GB, up to 512GB microSD
Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3.5mm audio
Battery: 8200mAh, up to 10 hours video
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Audio: Stereo speakers, 2 mics
Durability: IP52
Biometrics: Face unlock
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
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JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
