Omicron’s BQ.1.1 sub-variant has been reported for the first time in the state. A 25-year-old woman from Navi Mumbai has been found to be infected with the variant, which led to a surge of Covid cases in the US. The woman was asymptomatic and recovered in home isolation. However, experts said one needs to be vigilant as it’s not clear how the virus will behave.

After the surge in Covid cases in many countries, the Government of India decided to start random testing of two per cent flyers. Since December 24, at Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur airports, a total of 22,9767 passengers have arrived, out of which 5,071 were tested for RT-PCR. Eleven were found positive and samples were sent for genome sequencing.