'Omicron is highly infectious; mask and social distancing required': Karnataka Health Minister

BENGALURU: Amid growing concerns over the rising number of Omicron cases in the country, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday warned that the new COVID-19 variant is highly infections and that people needed to follow the social distancing norms strictly.

“Omicron is highly infectious; Masking and social distancing should be practiced. It is unfortunate that people are not wearing masks,” Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka Health Minister, said.

He also warned that the state government would soon be passing “advisories and regulations” to ensure that the Centre’s COVID-19 guidelines are strictly followed.

 

Omicron is highly infectious. We should keep our guards on. Masking and social distancing should be practiced. It is unfortunate that people are not wearing masks, we will be passing advisories and regulations on the same: Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka Health Minister pic.twitter.com/kheDofk6Fl

— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2021

 

The remarks from Karnataka Health Minister came shortly after Telangana reported the first case of Omicron with two air passengers from Kenya and Somalia testing positive for the new variant of Covid-19.

Both the cases were detected among air passengers from non-risk countries. Both had arrived at Hyderabad International Airport on December 12 via Abu Dhabi and Qatar, a top health official said.

A 24-year-old female had arrived from Kenya while a 23-year-old had come from Somalia. The Kenyan national has been isolated at Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) while health authorities were trying to trace the second case.

Director of public health Dr G Srinivasa Rao said two close contacts of the Kenyan national have also been sent for the Covid-19 test. He said the cases were detected among two per cent tests being conducted randomly on passengers arriving from non-risk countries. 

Both had tested positive for Covid on arrival and their samples were sent for genome sequencing. The genome sequencing reports received Tuesday night showed them to be positive for Omicron.

It would be important to note that the WHO has also warned that the Omicron variant is spreading at an unprecedented rate. WHO Director-General Tedros A. Ghebreyesus said that a total of 77 countries have reported Omicron cases so far but the reality is that this variant is probably yet to be detected in some countries.

"Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant. I need to be very clear: vaccines alone will not get any country out of this crisis. It`s not vaccines instead of masks, distancing, ventilation or hand hygiene. Do it all. Do it consistently. Do it well", said Ghebreyesus.

He said that there remains a vast gap in rates of Covid-19 vaccination between countries. "41 countries still have not been able to vaccinate 10 per cent of their populations. 98 countries have not reached 40 per cent. We also see significant inequities between population groups in the same country", said Dr Tedros.

In India, the Omicron variant caseload is rising each day. 

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