Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday will chair a meeting with the States on airport screening and surveillance with Airport Public Health Officials (APHOs) and Port Health Officials (PHOs), informed the official sources.

"The health minister will chair this meeting with the states at 10 am," sources said.

This comes amid the rising concerns of the new COVID-19 variant 'Omicron' which is being reported by foreign countries.

The new Omicron variant was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) by South Africa on November 24.