In the wake of the new variant Omicron, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday convened a high-level meeting to review the situation relating to Covid-19 and vaccination.
Modi urged the officials to be proactive and maintain intensive containment and active surveillance and make people cautious. He also said States should be sensitised on the need to ensure that all those who have got the first dose are given the second dose timely. The Prime Minister also asked officials to review plans for easing international travel restrictions in the light of the emerging new evidence.
“The PM was briefed about the global trends on Covid-19 infections and cases. Officials highlighted that countries across the world have experienced multiple Covid-19 surges since the onset of the pandemic. The PM also reviewed the national situation relating to Covid-19 cases and test positivity rates.
“The PM was apprised of the progress in vaccination and the efforts being made under the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign. The PM directed that there is a need to increase the second dose coverage and that States need to be sensitised on the need to ensure that all those who have got the first dose are given the second dose timely. The PM was also given details about the seropositivity in the country from time to time and its implications in public health response,” said the PMO in a statement about the two-hour-long review meeting chaired by the PM.
Officials briefed Modi about the new variant of concern “Omicron” along with its characteristics and the impact seen in various countries. Its implications for India were also discussed. Modi spoke about the need to be proactive in light of the new variant. He said in light of the new threat, people need to be more cautious and the need to take proper precautions like masking and social distancing. The PM highlighted the need for monitoring all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries identified “at risk”.
“The PM was given an overview of the sequencing efforts in the country and the variants circulating in the country. The PM directed that genome sequencing samples be collected from international travellers and community as per norms, tested through the network of labs already established under INSACOG and early warning signal identified for Covid-19 management. PM spoke about the need to increase the sequencing efforts and make it more broad-based,” said PMO.
Modi also directed officials to work closely with State Governments to ensure that there is proper awareness at the State and district level. He directed that intensive containment and active surveillance should continue in clusters reporting higher cases and required technical support be provided to states which are reporting higher cases presently. The PM also asked that awareness needs to be created about ventilation and the air-borne behaviour of the virus.
The meeting was attended by Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, AK Bhalla, Home Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, Health Secretary Dr Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary (Biotechnology, Dr Balram Bhargava, DG ICMR; Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary (AYUSH, Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary (Urban Development), RS Sharma CEO NHA; Prof K Vijay Raghavan (Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt. of India) along with other senior officials.
