Omicron In India: Avoid Unnecessary Travel, Gatherings, Advises The Central Government

New Delhi: The Omicron variant of coronavirus that was first detected in South Africa last month, has spread across the world quickly. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), almost 77 countries have reported the cases of the new variant. In India also, as per the latest data from the government, the cases of Omicron are rising and the country has reported over 170 cases so far. The Government of India has said that Omicron is spreading at a very fast pace in the country.

Also Read: Sustainable Recovery From COVID-19 Pandemic Should Begin With Vaccines: India At UN

While addressing a press conference recently, Dr VK Paul, Chief, Covid Task Force said,

If we look at the scale of spread in the UK and if there is a similar outbreak in India, then given our population, there will be 14 lakh cases every day. France is reporting 65,000 cases. If an outbreak of a similar scale as France takes place in India, then given our population it will mean 13 lakh cases every day.

He further explained that Europe is passing through a serious phase despite 80 per cent partial vaccinations and despite the fact that they also went through a Delta wave. He added,

Most cases of Omicron have a travel history, or have contacts with travel histories. But there have been some cases in which we have not been able to establish any such history. In that the process is on to identify travel or contact histories.

Dr Paul has recommended that in order to prevent the third wave, people must avoid unnecessary travel. He stressed on following Covid appropriate behaviour like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, avoiding crowds and increasing ventilation in indoor spaces, during New Year festivities. He said,

It is time to avoid non-essential travel, time to avoid mass gatherings, and time to observe low-intensity festivities and low-intensity New Year celebrations.

According to the government, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases so far followed by Delhi. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued a warning that 19 districts were at high risk of a surge in COVID-19 cases. The government has also urged states to encourage vaccination, step up surveillance measures and focus on sequencing positive samples in an effort to identify cases and potential hotspots.

Also Read: India’s Omicron Patient #2 – A Bengaluru Doctor Shares His Experience

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.