The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday re-inforced night curfew from 11pm to 5am amid rising concerns over the new Covid-19 variant, 'Omicron'. Meanwhile, the Centre on Thursday advised states and UTs to not let their guard down and maintain their preparedness in fight against Covid pandemic and to follow five-fold strategy in view of the new variant Omicron. The states have been asked to put in place the local containment measures by the District and local administration when either the test positivity increases beyond 10 per cent or occupancy of oxygenated beds increases beyond 40 per cent.
Amid fresh concerns raised by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a review meeting on the Covid-19 situation in the country while the Centre asked the states to consider imposing local restrictions ahead of the festive season. States were also advised to be vigilant and monitor case positivity, doubling rate, and clusters of new cases across districts. The Union Health Ministry directed the states going in for elections in the near future to “exponentially ramp up vaccination” — especially in the “low coverage districts” to protect the vulnerable population. India has recorded 236 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 16 states and UTs so far out of which 104 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data. Maharashtra has recorded the maximum 65 cases of the Omicron variant followed by Delhi at 64, Telangana 24, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 21 and Kerala 15.