In view of the emergence of the highly mutated Covid-19 variant Omicron, the Uttar Pradesh government has prepared an action plan to effectively check the spread of the South African variant.Dr R.K. Dhiman, Director, SGPGI, said that vaccination will prove to be the most effective weapon for Uttar Pradesh against the new variant.The state is fully prepared to deal with the new variant in view of the increased medical facilities and adequate presence of medical resources in the last one and a half years. Dhiman further said that in view of the increasing cases of Omicron in other countries, different aspects have been discussed by the institute regarding this new variant. In this particular meeting, it has come to the fore that this new variant of Corona spreads rapidly and its transmission rate is also high.
According to the assessment of doctors, the transmission rate of this new variant may be high but it is not more dangerous than the previous variants. He added that according to the assessment of experts, the possibility of increased mortality from this new variant is less as compared to the Delta. To avoid the outbreak of the third wave, there is a need to follow the Covid protocol along with vaccination at the earliest, he said. Meanwhile, India remains on high alert as the list of countries affected by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 grows. While no cases have been reported yet, several passengers from high-risk countries have tested positive for COVID-19. From December 1, international passengers arriving in India will have to submit their 14-day travel history and negative RT-PCR test report before travel. Passengers entering from at-risk nations will be mandatorily tested. On the other hand questions have also been raised about when and where the virus originated. Researchers indicated recently that that new variant has been detected in test samples taken in the Netherlands from November 19 to 23 - several days before it was detected in South Africa.