Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla emphasised on the need to have a "unified strategy" in Delhi-NCR region to tackle COVID-19 pandemic, especially for the Omicron variant, while chairing a meeting on Thursday.
Union Home Secretary's concern came during nearly two hours virtual meeting he chaired to review the COVID-19 situation and preparedness in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), which includes Delhi and nine bordering districts in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Keeping in view the close knit urban structure of the NCR region, the Home Secretary emphasized that it is necessary for all concerned authorities in Delhi and the NCR region to come together to tackle the virus".
Bhalla reiterated on the need to have a "unified strategy in the Delhi-NCR region to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic".
During the meeting, the Home Secretary conveyed that the "Omicron variant being highly transmissible, hence, no stone is to be left unturned to deal with any surge in cases and immediate steps should be taken to further strengthen the monitoring and containment mechanism".
He stressed that the "state and the local administration should strictly enforce the norms of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour; that is wearing of face masks and maintaining safe social distance in all public areas and public gatherings".
The Home Secretary also stressed that the health infrastructure in all the districts of Delhi-NCR should be immediately strengthened to deal with any enhanced requirement.
"Further, it should be ensured that oxygen supply equipment is fully functional and buffer stocks of essential drugs are maintained," the Home Secretary directed.
The Union Home Secretary also stressed on ramping up of testing in all the districts of Delhi-NCR, where testing appears to be less. All measures and mechanisms to contain and curb the spread of the virus must be reinvigorated.
The meeting was attended by Dr V K Paul, Member (Health) Niti Aayog, and other senior officers of the Central government and Chief Secretaries and Assistant Chief Secretaries of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, along with officials from the district administration of Delhi and the neighbouring districts.
The meeting was called when India on Thursday reported a single-day spike of 90,928 fresh COVID-19 cases and 325 deaths. The daily positivity rate stood at 6.43 per cent. The active caseload in the country reached 2,85,401, while 19,206 recoveries were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile on Thursday, the Omicron tally in the country had reached 2,630, with Maharashtra (797) topping the count, followed by Delhi (465), Rajasthan (236) and Kerala (234). On Wednesday, the Centre confirmed the first Omicron-related death in the country -- a 74-year-old man with comorbidities, who succumbed to the virus last week in Rajasthan's Udaipur.
India is witnessing an exponential rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, which is believed to be driven by the Omicron variant, the Centre had said on Wednesday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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