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PM Modi to hold Council of Ministers meet today; Omicron, assembly polls likely to be discussed
According to the report, the meeting is expected to be attended by all ministers and among the things that are expected to be discussed include next year's assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday hold a Council of Ministers meeting amid rising cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. The meeting is expected to take place at 4pm, according to Hindustan Times’ sister publication Livehindustan.
According to the report, the meeting is expected to be attended by all ministers and among the things that are expected to be discussed include next year's assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
PM Modi had taken stock of the pandemic situation in a high-level meeting called last Thursday where he asked officials to maintain a high level of vigil and alertness amid the Omicron spread.
In a communication to the states and UTs earlier, the Centre had said the Omicron variant is at least thrice more transmissible than its Delta variant and asked them to "activate" war rooms, keep analysing even small trends and surges and keep taking strict and prompt containment action at the district and local levels.
Also read | Omicron risk remains high; variant surpasses Delta in UK, US: 7 things WHO says
India has identified 781 cases of the Omicron variant so far, according to the Union health ministry data on Wednesday. Delhi has reported the maximum cases of the Omicron variant at 238, followed by Maharashtra (167), Gujarat (73), Kerala (65), Telangana (62) and Rajasthan (46). Other states that have reported cases of the new variant include Karnataka (34), Tamil Nadu (34) and Haryana (12).
A Bloomberg report on Tuesday stated that India may see a spurt in the Covid-19 growth rate within days and head into an intense but short-lived virus wave.
Also read | Infection with Omicron may reduce risk from Delta variant too, shows study
The report quoted an expert as saying, “It is likely that India will see a period of explosive growth in daily cases and that the intense growth phase will be relatively short."
Last week, India allowed booster shots and included teenagers aged 15 to 18 in the ongoing vaccination drive. Two more vaccines as well as Merck & Co.’s antiviral pill molnupiravir were approved by the local drug regulator on Tuesday.
(With agency inputs)
