Centre reviews Public Health Preparedness with States/UTs in view of new COVID19 Variant (OMICRON) reported by WHO
- Press Information Bureau
- December 1, 2021
The new Covid-19 variant (OMICRON) reported by WHO calls for strict mapping and review of public health awareness and ramp-up testing with rapid and early identification of cases.
Shri Rajesh Bhushan, the Union Health Secretary, headed a high-level meeting with States and Union Territories to monitor the preparedness due to the disastrous spread of the Omicron variant across the world. The meeting was conducted in the presence of Dr. V K Paul, NITI Aayog, Member, and attended by a few delegates from the Ministry of External Affairs, Bureau of Immigration (BOI), State Airport Public Health Officials, and various other officials from different states and union territories. The union health secretary has advised the states to keep their guards on and strictly monitor international passengers traveling through various means of transport to their respective states. The states were explicitly advised to conduct a stringent inspection of international passengers coming from “At Risk” countries on Day 1 and test them again on Day 8.
Furthermore, the states were advised to fast-track the testing process and strongarm the testing infrastructure, conduct efficient surveillance of hotspots by inspecting areas where traces of positive cases could be located and dispatch all the positive samples for genome sequencing in an efficient manner to INSACOG Lab. Surveillance and monitoring of home isolation cases must be effective and regular, and health infrastructure should be augmented to ensure the availability of ventilators, ICU, O2 beds, etc. The ministry has also issued particular guidelines highlighting the importance of Covid appropriate behavior, rapid vaccination, and avoiding public gatherings. States were advised to prioritize testing as the OMICRON variant does not escape RAT and RTPCR.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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