Health

India says Omicron shows up on tests, advises states to ramp up checks

India’s union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Tuesday that the Omicron variant does show up on RT-PCR and RAT testing, and advised the country’s states to ramp up diagnostics for early identification.

All samples that test positive for COVID-19 are to be “promptly” sent for genome sequencing, Bhushan said in a meeting with state and union territory representatives to review the variant.

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Health

No sign yet of H5N1 bird flu spreading between humans, says WHO chief

The H5N1 avian influenza virus has so far shown no signs of adapting to allow human to human transmission, the UN health agency said on Wednesday, urging continued surveillance.

Health

Patients in Rafah ‘afraid to seek services’, WHO reports

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken “crucial steps” in the event of a large-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah, Dr. Ahmed Dahir, Team Lead of its office in Gaza, told UN News on Tuesday.

Health

First Person: Women in Madagascar too ashamed to seek help giving birth

Some of the poorest women in an underdeveloped region south of Madagascar are “too ashamed” to seek the maternal health services they need, according to a midwife working in a health centre supported by United Nations agencies, but that may be about to change.