Omicron scare: Activate Covid war rooms, states told

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 21

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday asked states to enhance restrictions and surveillance even as Omicron cases in the country crossed 200.

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Noting that the new variant was three times more transmissible than Delta, the ministry asked states to activate war rooms to analyse trends and surges, no matter how small. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a letter to states, urged action on four areas — containment, testing and surveillance; clinical management; vaccination; and Covid protocols. Bhushan said district-level containment measures and restrictions must be put in place forthwith wherever test positivity rate was 10 per cent or more in the last one week and bed occupancy was 40 per cent or more on oxygen-supported or ICU beds.

In any area with positivity rate more than 10 per cent, the Health Ministry has recommended containment, including night curfews, regulation of large gatherings, curtailing number at weddings and funerals, and limiting the number of employees in offices, industries and public transport.