With the number of cases surpassing the 200 mark in the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting to review the situation. The number of cases of the new variant Omicron is rising rapidly with the National Capital Territory with the highest number of cases so far. On Wednesday, Delhi reported 57 cases and is closely followed by Maharashtra with 54 cases, Telangana (24), Karnataka (19), Rajasthan (18), Kerala (15), and Gujarat (14). J&K has also reported 3 Omicron cases, and Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh have two cases each.
The number of overall COVID-19 cases is staggering with a total of 34,758,481, out of which 478,325 have died in the past two years. The active cases as of now in the country are 78,190, the lowest in the last 575 days.
Union Health Ministry on Tuesday forewarned the states and the Union Territories of the new variant of the virus also called as ‘Variant of Concern’ by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Omicron variant is said to be three times transmissible than the Delta Variant which took over the world earlier this year. Very little is known about the Omicron itself.
The Government issued the advisory asking the states and union territories to keep up with the Coronavirus trends and take appropriate measures to halt the spread across the country.
The steps recommended by the central government included night lockdowns, cutting down numbers at weddings, funerals, restricting people in public transports, and bans on large gatherings if more than 10 percent of all tests done turn out to be positive or if the hospital beds are at more than 40 percent of capacity.
Many states have already imposed restrictions. In Delhi, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority has banned any gathering to celebrate Christmas and New Year in gatherings. It has also asked the District Magistrates and deputy commissioner of police to take strict actions against people not wearing masks and not abiding by the law.
The government of Karnataka has also not given its approval for large festival gatherings and special events or DJ events in the clubs are not allowed. In Haryana, people will not who are not vaccinated will not be allowed to appear in public transports, gatherings, etc. In Mumbai, any gathering to have the local disaster management approval. Crowding over 200 people is not allowed at all. Uttar Pradesh has invoked section 144 from December 7 to January 5.
The Central ministry stated that prompt management along with coercive measures is needed at the local levels to put a stop to the spread of the deadly virus. This strain which has engulfed various European countries has started to infect India at a steady rate. The last two years brought out the worst of the Coronavirus but it is not over yet.
