New Delhi : Discovery the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, calls for extreme vigil, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Preventive measures must be scaled up and given the highly transmissible nature of the strain, lifting of ban on international flights should be re-examined for, added PM speaking at high-level meeting convened to assess Covid mitigation and vaccination efforts.
Restrictions must be strict for arrivals from abroad especially those coming from countries detected with the new variant. Guidelines issued by the centre should be applied for the latter arrivals, said PM. People must strictly follow Covid protocols of mask and social distancing, he added.
PM also instructed to speed up the second dose vaccination round and complete in time-bound manner.
Context : With decline in Covid infections, the centre had decided to lift restrictions on international travel from the 15th of December. That decision will now however be re-weighed given the detection of the more challenging variant dubbed Omicron.
