New Delhi. The central government has held a meeting with the states regarding the new variant of the corona virus, Omicron, and asked them to take necessary precautions. Amid rising cases of this new variant across the world, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday held a review meeting with states and union territories and advised them to increase testing for early detection and management of infection cases.
The states have been suggested by the central government to keep a close watch on international passengers and every passenger coming from at-risk countries should have RT PCR test at the airport. It has also been said that the sample of every infected person found at the airport should mandatorily be sent for genome sequencing. Also their contact tracing should be done and infected passengers should be monitored for 14 days.
The central government has also asked the states and union territories to increase the number of tests in the districts. An official of the Union Health Ministry said that Rajesh Bhushan has stressed to the states that the new variant of the virus is not such that it cannot be detected by RT-PCR and rapid antigen test. He asked the states and union territories to make arrangements for isolation of patients with adequate infrastructure and surveillance.
Along with this, the Central Government has extended the Corona Guidelines applicable in the country till December 31. This decision has been taken in view of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of Corona in other countries of the world. In the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the state governments have been asked to strictly follow the advisory issued on November 25. In its advisory, the Ministry of Home Affairs had directed the states to expedite screening and testing. Along with this, all passengers coming from international flights were asked to make corona test mandatory and track them.
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Omicron will be discussed in Parliament today
The new variant of the corona virus, Omicron, will be discussed in Parliament on Wednesday. The danger of this new variant and the measures being taken for corona management will be discussed during the short duration discussion to be held under Rule 193. It is worth noting that at this time there is a stir in the whole world due to the new variant and India has also intensified the preparations. Earlier, the Government of India said on Tuesday that not a single case of this variant has been found in the country so far. However, many experts are apprehensive about this and are telling that international flights are still going on in India, so it is possible that some case has come.
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However, it was told by the Central Government in Parliament on Tuesday that not a single case of Omicron has come in the country so far. In the Rajya Sabha, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday – not a single case of Omicron has been found in the country so far. Every effort is being made to ensure that no such case comes forward. The Health Minister stressed that Kovid is under control, but it is not completely gone. He also told that till now 124 crore doses of vaccine have been administered in the country.
