WHO calls for strict anti-Covid measures

New Delhi, January 8

With India recording 1,41,986 new Covid-19 cases in a day and the pandemic expanding across all 11 countries of WHO’s South East Asia Region, the global health body today asked the governments to do all they can to arrest the surge.

The WHO called for stringent implementation of public health and social measures as Covid-19 cases increased in most countries of the South-East Asia Region, with some witnessing an exponential rise.

“All preventive and protective measures must be implemented with full earnestness by one and all. Authorities must implement situation-specific measures to arrest further spread of the virus. People must adhere to these measures. Masks, hand hygiene, cough etiquette, ventilation and physical distancing is an absolute must,” said WHO Regional Director, Southeast Asia Poonam Khetarpal Singh.

She said the Omicron variant might appear to be less severe, but it should not be dismissed as ‘mild’. “Emerging as the most predominant variant, this highly infectious variant is already overwhelming health systems around the world. Globally we are seeing hospitalisation and deaths from Omicron,” she added. — TNS