Tripura govt appeals to people to exercise caution amid Omicron threat

The Tripura government on Saturday appealed to the people of the state to exercise caution and follow COVID-19 protocols amid the rising cases of Omicron across the country.

No patient in Tripura has been found infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus so far, but precautions need to be taken to keep the new strain at bay, state Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury stated.

Urging people to celebrate Christmas and New Year responsibly, he also said that strict action would be initiated after December 31 against anyone found not wearing masks or violating social distancing norms.

In a statement, Chowdhury said, "Samples of 33 persons, who landed in Tripura from abroad recently, were sent to a laboratory in West Bengal for genome sequencing. Thirty-one samples tested negative for Omicron and results of the remaining two are yet to arrive.” A new facility for whole-genome sequencing (WGS) will be made available at GB Pant hospital by February next year, he maintained.

Earlier, on Friday, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and Chief Secretary Kumar Alok had chaired two separate meetings with officials to review the preparations made to deal with any eventuality in the wake of the Omicron threat.