Hyderabad: The central government on Saturday raised fresh alarm over the rapid rise of Covid19 cases in the country. The fast-spreading Omicron variant is a matter of serious concern even as its number has not risen to high levels so far.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the Covid case trajectory is showing an upward trend. Some 16,764 cases were reported on December 31, the highest ever single day count in 70 days.
As part of the urgent measures to stop the spread of the Omicron and other Covid19 variants, it is essential that states implement containment activities at the field-level, Bhushan said.
Two days ago, on December 30, director of public health to the Telangana government Dr Srinivasa Rao told a press conference that containment measures will not yield desired results as the Omicron variant has already entered the community transmission phase in Telangana.
Bhushan, in his Saturday’s letter to chief secretaries of all states and administrators of UTs warned of increasing and sudden stress on health infrastructure if Covid19 is allowed to expand its footprint rapidly. “There is a need for effective contact tracing with quarantine of contacts. For high risk, and comorbid contacts, “facility quarantine” should be taken up, he said, adding that sufficient numbers of such facilities should be planned across the state.
With children in India not being vaccinated against Covid19, and hinting at their vulnerability to catching the disease in the third wave in India, Bhushan called on states to maintain a “clear focus on rural areas, and pediatric cases.”
