Confirmation of Omicron cases in India not unexpected: WHO
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Dec, 2021 11:59 AM
New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) The detection of two cases of Omicron, the latest variant of Covid-19, in Karnataka was not unexpected in view of the interconnected world that people live in, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said on Thursday.
"This emphasised the need for all countries to step up surveillance, to be on alert, and rapidly detect any importance and take measures to curtail further spread of the virus," she said.
The Union Health ministry on Thursday said that two cases of Omicron have been detected in Karnataka.
"Both persons had travelled from South Africa. Their contacts have been identified and are under monitoring," said Balram Bhargava, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (IMRC).
"All Omicron related cases have been found to have mild symptoms so far. No severe symptoms have been noticed in Omicron infection in all such cases, both in the country and abroad," the Health Ministry said.
"WHO commends the countries which have been able to quickly detect and report cases of the new variant of concern," Singh said in a tweet.
She also made it clear that the response measures for all variants of concern, including Omicron, are the same as those for SARS-CoV-2.
Comprehensive and tailored public health and social measures by the government, and strict adherence to the preventive and precautionary measures by individuals is a must for all, she added.
According to the World Health Organization, the overall global risk related to the new Covid variant has been assessed to be very high.
The non-recognition of the Covishield vaccine has impacted the Indians, especially students travelling to the UK. This issue was flagged during the meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Monday in Washington DC.
She reached Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, by air in the morning from where she headed straight to her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's cottage located amid forests of pine and cedar on the suburbs of the Himachal Pradesh capital.
Channi took oath of office along with his two deputies -- one a Jat Sikh and another belonging to the Hindu community -- at a simple ceremony here in the Punjab capital that was delayed for 20 minutes owing to the late arrival of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
Jasbir Singh Virk, president of Bhartiya Sikh Sangthan, has underlined the need to intensify the ongoing farmers' agitation and said that there was a need to shore up strength at the Delhi borders.
Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma told IANS that to control infighting in its party state unit, the Congress leadership made Channi ji (Charanjit Singh Channi) the Punjab Chief Minister but insulted the Dalit community by not allowing him to lead the party in the upcoming state Assembly polls.
The government and drug controller's office will have to take a decision on the third booster dose based on data and cases as times goes on and including how effective the vaccine is on the Delta virus variant, he added.
