Stating that the emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus is a reminder that the threat from COVID-19 still looms large, Uday Shankar, President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Thursday urged the Centre to adopt a pan-India uniform policy to tackle the variant.
Shankar said, "We urge the Centre to ensure a uniform policy is followed across the country, especially at all entry points, as any deviation at a State, City or Municipal level will have a cascading effect."
He also emphasized the need to get fully vaccinated and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour amid the Omicron scare.
"The emergence of the Omicron variant is a stark reminder that the threat from COVID has not gone away; getting fully vaccinated and following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour are now more important than ever. However, we caution against any knee jerk reactions which will only cause panic and disrupt lives and livelihoods without any meaningful gain," said Shankar.
"It is imperative to remain vigilant, step up the number of RT-PCR tests to monitor any uptick in positivity rates, and accelerate genome sequencing to track variants. Given the need to balance lives and livelihoods, economic activity should be calibrated to positivity rates as suggested in the 'FICCI Unlock Matrix' and restrictions, if warranted, must be highly localised," he said.
"India has successfully fought against COVID and will do so again by taking actions on the basis of accurate data and scientific rationale," Shankar added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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