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Manish Sisodia warns Delhi residents on new covid variant, Omicron
The new variant of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – has been named Omicron by World Health Organisation, which has also called it a ‘variant of concern’
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday said the government was concerned about the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, and had asked various departments to accelerate the enhancement of infrastructure in the capital.
“In the context of the new covid variant, both worry and fear are important. The government is also concerned about the new variant. We have called for the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting. At the same time, the health department and other administrative departments are on high alert once again. We have alerted everyone and asked them to enhance the infrastructure with an accelerated speed now,” Sisodia said during a press briefing on Sunday.
The new variant of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – has been named Omicron by World Health Organisation (WHO). The variant, B.1.1.529, was first reported from South Africa to the WHO, which has tagged it as a ‘variant of concern’.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-level meeting held on Saturday to review the present Covid situation, the Union health ministry has alerted all states and Union territories to buckle up and enforce intensive containment, active surveillance and maximum vaccine coverage.
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Requesting people to avoid unnecessary interactions, Sisodia said one should assume that the variant might be present in the city already. “Even if one person with the new variant enters Delhi, it will not take much time to spread. We should assume that someone with the variant might have entered Delhi and the virus might be spreading among some people. However, we pray that this is not the case,” said Sisodia.
On Saturday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop flights from the countries affected by the omicron variant. “I urge Hon’ble PM to stop flights from those countries which are affected by the new variant. With great difficulty, our country has recovered from Corona. We should do everything possible to prevent this new variant from entering India,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief wrote on Twitter.
The new variant, believed to be more transmissible and immune-evasive, has prompted countries to impose travel restrictions. Apart from Botswana, Hong Kong, South Africa, the new variant has now been detected in the UK, Australia, Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Isreal, the Netherlands etc.
