Centre amid Omicron scare asks states to amp up testing, activate war rooms, place curfews

The Centre has now warned states and Union Territories (UTs) against the higher transmissibility of COVID's Omicron variant. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, on Tuesday, December 21, has sent out a letter to all states and UT administrations, asking them to take prevention and containment measures against Omicron, which has been labelled 'Variant of Concern' by the Centre. The Centre, in its letter, listed a series of measures including extensive testing, night curfew and regulation of gatherings.

The letter from the Health Ministry noted that the “VOC Omicron is at least 3 times more transmissible than the Delta VOC.” Furthermore, it noted that the virus is actively spreading in different parts of the country and thus urged the states for strict containment action at the local and district level. It said the measures taken should be based on local conditions, laying down the guidelines for what it called "threshold limits". As per the Centre, the threshold is the test positivity of 10 per cent or more in the last one week or 40 per cent occupancy on oxygen supported or ICU beds in hospitals.

Centre asks states to ramp up efforts to curb Omicron spread

"At the district level, there should be a constant review of emerging data regarding the population affected by COVID-19, geographical spread, hospital infrastructure and its utilization, manpower, notifying Containment Zones, enforcement of perimeter of containment zones, etc", the letter said. The ministry emphasised that evidence should be the basis for effective decision-making at the district level and that such a strategy is necessary to contain the infection at the local level before it breaches state borders. 

Furthermore, it noted that the Delta variant is "still present" in parts of the country, thus taking curbs before reaching the threshold in the light of the new variant was necessary. The centre called for "greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making and strict and prompt containment action” and said that the local administrations must be prompt in action. The Centre also suggested door-to-door case searches and contact tracing of all patients as part of strict surveillance.

The ministry suggested sending samples from cluster infections to INSACOG Labs for Genome Sequencing. It also asked states to ensure 100 per cent vaccination coverage in all areas. Furthermore, the Centre has asked states to ramp up medical infrastructure, including increasing hospital beds, ambulances, and oxygen equipment. The letter has advised implementing night curfews, restrictions on large public gatherings, as well as the activation of war rooms or Emergency Operation Centres with continuous analysis of all trends and surges.

Omicron in India

As of Tuesday, India has recorded over 200 cases of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus. Out of the list, 77 patients have so far recovered or migrated, the Union Health Ministry said. Maharashtra is leading the Omicron cases chart with a tally of 65 cases so far. Delhi has recorded 54, while Telangana registered 20 cases, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 18, Kerala 15 and Gujarat 14 cases. The health ministry also informed that India recorded 5,326 new cases of coronavirus infections, the lowest in 581 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,47,52,164. The active caseload in the country declined to 79,097, the lowest in 574 days on Tuesday.

Image: PTI