Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec 23: Centre on Thursday proposed a fivefold strategy for tackling the threat of Omicron, in a review meeting over public health preparedness by states and Union Territories for fighting COVID-19 and the Omicron variant.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired the meet where he also reviewed the progress of vaccination with Health Secretaries and National Health Mission (NHM) MDs from states and UTs via video conference.
The fivefold strategy includes broad guidelines under the heading- Containment, Testing and Surveillance, Clinical Management, COVID safe Behaviour and Vaccination.
States are advised to impose night curfews and ensure strict regulation of large gatherings, especially ahead of the forthcoming festivals. Promptly notify ‘containment Zones’, ‘Buffer Zones’ in the case in new clusters of COVID positive cases.
Rajesh Bhushan reiterated that local containment measures will be implemented by the district and local administration when either the test positivity or the occupancy of oxygenated beds exceeds 10%.
However, based on the local situation and population characteristics such as density and keeping in mind Omicron’s higher transmissibility, states and UTs can implement containment measures and impose restrictions before these thresholds are reached.
“The states were advised that any restriction must be enforced for a minimum of 14 days. Because Omicron variant syndromes closely resemble common colds, with a higher rate of transmissibility and doubling time, a syndromic approach to COVID containment can be employed,” said the Health Ministry.
States were asked to keep a close and strict eye on the number of Delta and Omicron cases in all districts; case positivity on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis; the doubling rate; and new emerging clusters, and to initiate containment in these areas.
Furthermore, the Centre advised paying close attention to conducting tests in accordance with existing ICMR and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines, ensuring door-to-door case searches in containment areas, and utilizing access to the “AIR SUVIDHA” Portal to monitor international passengers.
