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.
"All primary contacts and secondary contacts of both the cases have been traced and are being tested," the health ministry's joint secretary, Lav Agarwal, told a news briefing.
The two patients were displaying mild symptoms, officials said.
India's priority is to fully vaccinate all of India's 944 million adults ahead of administering booster shots. About 84 per cent have received a first dose and about 49 per cent a second.
India was set to restart international flights on December 15, but on Wednesday scrapped that plan and said a resumption date would be announced in due course.
After battling a record jump in infections and deaths in April and May, coronavirus cases have come down substantially in India.
The country reported 9,765 new cases on Thursday, taking its total to 34.61 million. Only the United States has reported more.
Qatar's prime minister said on Sunday that efforts to reach a new ceasefire in Gaza have made some progress but an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war remains elusive.
A huge blast most likely caused by the explosion of chemical materials killed at least 18 people and injured more than 700 on Saturday at Iran's biggest port, Bandar Abbas, Iranian state media reported.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have sounded the alarm over severe funding shortfalls that are hindering life-saving humanitarian aid in countries including Nigeria, Burundi, and Colombia.
A number of people were killed and multiple others were injured in Vancouver after a vehicle drove into a crowd at a Filipino street festival in the western Canadian city, police said on Saturday.