Omicron Global Surge: More than 11,500 international flights cancelled

New Delhi : The festival season is here and so is Omicron variant of coronavirus; more than 11,500 international flights have been cancelled across the globe amid reports of record surge in the new cases of the variant.

Since Friday, many flights have also been reported running late during the busiest travel days.

Effects rippled worldwide, with about 3,000 flights already cancelled Monday and 1,100 more on Tuesday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

Meanwhile, the US has cut down the isolation period for asymptomatic coronavirus patients from 10 days to 5 days, followed by mandatory masks for next five days when around others.

Cases in the United States are already on track to reach record highs in January, fueled by large pockets of unvaccinated residents as well as lack of access to quick and easy testing.

Joe Biden in his recent address to the nation had said that hospitals may overrun with the sudden surge in coronavirus cases, but the United States is prepared to tackle the situation so people must not panic.

"Omicron is a source of concern, but it should not be a source of panic," he said.

Nationwide, the United States is closing in on the daily high of 250,000 cases recorded last January in the world's most affected nation, which has lost more than 816,000 people to the pandemic.