India reported 17 more cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Sunday - nine persons in Rajasthan capital Jaipur, seven in Maharashtra's Pune district and a fully vaccinated man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania.

   Most of those who tested positive either recently arrived from African countries or were in contact with such people. With this, four states and the national capital have now reported cases of the potentially more contagious variant, which has sparked a fresh alert across the world.

    The first two cases of Omicron in India were reported from Karnataka last week. The other two cases were detected in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

    Omicron, first detected in South Africa on November 25, has been described as a "variant of concern" by the WHO. 

    India Omicron Covid tally jumps to 21

   Maharashtra -8

   Karnataka -2

   Delhi-1

  Gujarat-1

Rajasthan -9

    New travel rules amid Omicron scare

    International airports across India are intensively screening and testing all passengers from 'at-risk' countries. In line with central guidelines, all passengers from such countries have to take RT-PCR tests on arrival. The test result has to be negative in order to leave the airport. The list of countries deemed "at-risk" for now includes the United Kingdom, all 44 countries in Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel.

     India logs 8,895 fresh Covid cases on Sunday

     India logged 8,895 new Covid cases and 2,796 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the health ministry's data released on Sunday morning. The highest number of daily deaths were reported in Bihar, with 2,426 fatalities.

     Assam govt implements new SOPs as Omicron cases spread. Read details

       Assam's government has taken a decision to tighten travel guidelines for international travelers in line with Indian government's move to implement similar measures in the wake of Omicron variant. India has so far recorded 21 cases of the new coronavirus strain.

       The Assam's government on Sunday issued new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for international travelers, amid the spread of the Omicron variant in India. The presence of new strain has been reported in 21 cases across the country so far.

      The new SOPs make it mandatory for international travelers, to go for an RT-PCR test on arrival at the airport. Those who plan to stay in Assam have been asked to compulsorily quarantine at home for seven days.

       If any of the traveler is found positive, he/she will have to abide by the state government protocol, and the samples will also be sent to laboratories for genome sequencing to determine the Covid variant, the state government said in its order.

      Assam health minister Keshab Mahanta said that the new SOPs have been formulated on the basis of the protocol for international travelers prepared by the Center.

      The state government has also asked those who are going out of or coming into Assam to upload a self-declaration form on "Air Suvidha" portal before the scheduled journey.

     The passengers have been asked to submit travel details for the last 14 days and a negative RT-PCR report, not older than 72 hours.

       They should also give an undertaking on the portal or to the ministry of civil aviation through airlines before they are allowed to undertake the journey that they would abide by decisions of the appropriate government authority to undergo home or institutional quarantine as warranted.

       The Omicron variant has been reported in four states - Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka - and national capital Delhi.

      The total tally has reached 21. Of these, 17 were reported on Sunday alone. Most of these have travel history to South African countries, where Omicron was first detected last month.

    Since then, it has spread to two dozen countries, with Europe being the hardest hit.