India announces directives to keep citizens safe from Omicron spread
Amid the rising concerns of fast spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19, the Government of India has published a number of directions for citizens aiming to curb the fast spread of the infections.
On behalf of the Government of India, it is the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the nodal agency for media communications shared the list of Omicron-related general advice under the guidance of Balram Bhargava, the director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Omicron: Directions issued by Centre to cut the spread of the infectious new variant –
- Non-essential travel must be averted.
- Mass gatherings should also be avoided as these often turn into Covid-19 hotspots.
- Festivities, particularly the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s fete, should be observed in “low intensity”.
- Those districts, which have reported more than five per cent test positivity rates, need to ensure restrictive measures until the rate falls below five per cent for at least two weeks.
“We still have about 24 districts such where the weekly test positivity rate is over five per cent,” said the secretary of the department of health research under the Union ministry of health and family welfare. “These districts need to ensure local restrictive measures till the weekly test positivity rate comes down to below five per cent for at least two weeks.”
101 #Omicron cases have been detected in 11 states so far in the country including 32 in Maharashtra and 22 in Delhi
– @MoHFW_INDIA #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/J08Xl2jp3s
— PIB India (@PIB_India) December 17, 2021
The health ministry’s joint secretary Lav Agarwal also emphasized the usage of face masks, following social distancing and hand hygiene, echoing the WHO’s advisory that vaccines alone won’t be enough in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The number of Omicron cases in the country has now surpassed 100 in the country and these infections have been reported from 11 states and Union territories so far, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said on Friday.
The health ministry also highlighted that the number of Omicron cases was rising globally and as of Friday, the United Kingdom reported 11,708 infections followed by Denmark with 9,009 and Norway with 1,792 cases.
