In Mumbai, fresh COVID guidelines issued amid threat of Omicron variant; check details

Amid mounting concerns over the new COVID variant 'Omicron' emerging from South Africa, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday conducted an important meeting. In the meeting that had in attendance Health Officers, ward officers, Additional Commissioners among others, the Municipal Corporation revised the COVID guidelines on the basis of the guidelines issued by the State government.

As per the guidelines issued by BMC, If an international traveller lands in Mumbai directly or indirectly from an African country where the new COVID virus has been discovered, their passport would be strictly examined. A medical examination would also be done on the basis of whether the passengers are showing symptoms of infection or not. If the traveller is found to be infected, he or she would be subjected to immediate institutional segregation and verification of the genome sequencing will be conducted.

All Pvt & govt hospitals directed to start preparing for COVID again

Also, all private and government hospitals have been directed to ramp up COVID treatment efforts. Apart from this, directions have been given to reinspect COVID centres. "In them, medical and other necessary manpower, stock of medicines, production and storage of medical oxygen, electrical system, fire fighting system should be reviewed," the statement issued after the meeting read.

The development comes as Mumbai on Saturday reported 214 fresh coronavirus positive cases and four deaths, taking the case tally to 7,62,399 and the death toll to 16,326, as per government record. This was the second consecutive day when the metropolis reported more than 200 cases.

PM Modi conducts a meeting in light of the new COVID variant 

In light of the new COVID variant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also conducted a meeting earlier in the day. In the meeting, PM directed officials to be proactive in view of the new variant and discussed its possible implications for India. He highlighted the need to monitor all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries identified among 'at risk' category. In addition to this, PM Modi also asked officials to review plans for easing international travel restrictions in light of the emerging new evidence. 

Thereafter, PM Modi took to his official Twitter handle and urged the citizens to continue following social distancing and wear masks, besides ensuring complete vaccination against the disease, in light of the new variant.

The global health body has named the new variant 'Omicron', labelling it a variant of concern because of its high number of mutations and some early evidence that it carries a higher degree of infection than other variants. That means people who contracted COVID-19 and recovered could be subject to catching it again. 

(With ANI inputs)