Bhubaneswar: There have been two Omicron variant cases detected in Odisha. This has become a reason of concern for both the people in Odisha and the state government as this new covid-19 variant has a high-transmission rate as per the initial studies conducted across the globe. The government of Odisha is taking all the necessary precautions to resist the consequences arising due to the new Covid variant.
The State Chief Secretary reviewed the current situation in a meeting on Wednesday and planned out a proper guideline to tackle the forthcoming emergency that arises due to the Omicron variant. This meeting was held a day after the Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan notified all the States, and UTs to get ready for fighting Covid-19 infection trends and adopt suitable measures such as banning large gatherings, if more than 10% of a total number of tests in a week found positive or if the occupancy of hospital beds crosses 40% of capacity.
Odisha Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra cited to the media post the high-level meeting that the state government is likely to take all requisite steps to deal with the Omicron threat. Misha had further said that the State government has proposed to go with a five-fold strategy like intensify surveillance, genome sequencing, vaccination, testing and tracking. In the case of emergency, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) would release new guidelines in the coming future, he said.
Other than foreign returnees, genome sequencing of samples will also be intensified at the district level in the days to come along with that new testing measures to be intensified as well.
Considering the forthcoming Christmas and New Year celebrations, the State government has already directed all the District Collectors and Municipal Commissioners to restrict congregations and public gatherings. The concerned administrative authorities are asked to take reasonable measures on a local level to handle the ensuing situation.
The Public Health Director further asserted that a stringent watch is kept on educational institutions. Strict instructions have been given to the respective authorities to immediately isolate the students and staff who shows any symptoms of the infection so that necessary testing and treatment can be done.
-OdishaAge
