J&K L-G reviews COVID situation amid Omicron scare; discusses preventive measures

Amid the Omicron scare experienced by the country, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Lt Governor Manoj Sinha reviewed the UT's COVID-19 situation on Saturday, urging health officials to utilize RT-PCR testing and vaccination to its full capacity. Discussing the preventive measures to be implemented against the emerging scenario, LG Sinha asserted that 'Covid Appropriate Behaviour' was absolutely 'essential and critical' during this time. Urging its administration to re-inculcate COVID protocols, he directed district admins to intensify awareness campaigns and strictly enforce mask-wearing, and social distancing.

On the administration front, the Lt Governor said that intensive testing, containment, and enhanced surveillance are required in areas reporting higher cases. He also urged strict implementation of the testing and quarantine of travellers from foreign countries, given that all cases of Omicron in India were associated with international travel history. For this, nodal officers will be deployed in the UT to monitor all international arrivals and proper testing of travellers, he said.

 An official release of the J&K Government read, "While chairing the meetings of Covid Task Force and DCs, SPs, the Lt Governor observed that since WHO has declared Omicron as a 'Variant of Concern', the health officials and people must be more proactive."

At the same time, LG Sinha urged the UT to scale up vaccinations. He also directed the Deputy Commissioners to bring down the number of due second doses to zero. "Instructions were also issued to the Superintendents of Police for ensuring strict following of CAB and imposing fines for violation of COVID protocols," the release added.

Earlier on Saturday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to the Jammu and Kashmir administration asking it to ramp up the protocols placed to control the spread of COVID-19. The letter had raised concern over the surge in fresh cases in a few districts. Jammu and Kashmir Saturday reported 202 COVID-19 cases, 114 from Kashmir and 88 from Jammu. No fresh fatality has been reported in the last 24 hours.

India has so far detected 4 cases of Omicron from three states. The first cases were reported in India when two individuals tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Karnataka on December 2. Today, India reported its 3rd and 4th cases of Omicron from the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.