Aside from Omicron, the Delta variant is still “present” in the country, the Center said in the letter.
New Delhi:
Omicron is three times more infectious than Delta, and a “war room” is needed to stop it, the Center told the states. It lists a range of prevention and containment measures including comprehensive testing, night curfews and regulation of gatherings.
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The letter from the Ministry of Health said the measures taken should be based on local conditions, setting out guidelines for what it called “threshold limits”.
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The thresholds, the Center said, are a 10% or higher positive test in the past week or 40% of the use rate in an oxygen-supported bed or ICU.
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States and Union Territories can take “containment, restrictive measures even before the threshold is reached,” the center said.
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Besides Omicron, the Delta variant is still “present” in different parts of the country, the letter read.
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Calling for “foresight, data analytics, dynamic decision-making, and rigorous and rapid preventive action,” the letter said decision-making at the State/UT and district levels “must be very quickly and centrally and implement containment and restriction measures even before these thresholds are reached”.
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As part of its testing and surveillance methods, the Center mentioned a case-by-case search, contact tracing of all Covid-positive people.
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Cluster infection samples should be sent immediately to INSACOG Labs for genome sequencing.
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States have also been asked to “accelerate and ensure” 100% vaccination rates.
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It has also been suggested that the emergency fund be used to strengthen medical infrastructure, including hospital beds, ambulances, oxygen equipment, and medicine.
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The number of Omicron cases has surpassed the 200 mark in India, the Ministry of Health said. Maharashtra and Delhi reported the highest number of new variant cases – 54. This was followed by Telangana (20 cases), Karnataka (19), Rajasthan (18), Kerala (15) and Gujarat (14). Among them, 77 patients have recovered or migrated, the ministry added.
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