COVID BF.7: Is India Heading Towards 4th Wave? A Look Into How States Are Preparing
COVID BF.7: Is India Heading Towards 4th Wave? A Look Into How States Are Preparing
New COVID Variant:In Bihar,random Covid tests will be conducted at airports, railway stations and bus stands. Here's how other states like Maharahstra, Delhi and Gujarat are prepared to tackle COVID BF.7.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, along with experts and top officials, held an extensive discussion on the ground situation in the country as COVID cases spiked in China. (File Photo)
New COVID Variant: Health authorities in India are on their toes after coronavirus cases in China, Japan and the US saw a massive surge. While Delhi and Maharashtra are holding an emergency coronavirus meeting today, Gujarat, Karnataka and Mumbai have tightened rules for international passengers arriving in the states. Besides, PM Modi will also hold a high-level review meeting at 3:30 PM with regard to the Covid-19 situation in the country. For the unversed, the Prime Minister’s meeting comes a day after Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya took stock of the situation and said that the pandemic is not over yet. “Covid is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation”, Mandaviya tweeted.
COVID BF.7: ARE STATES PREPARED FOR NEW COVID VARIANT?
Bihar: In Bihar,random Covid tests will be conducted at airports, railway stations and bus stands. Additional chief secretary of health department, Pratyay Amrit directed the officials to conduct random tests to ensure that no new Covid-19 variant has appeared in patients. An advisory has also been issued asking malls, shopping centers and cinema hall authorities to follow Covid protocols in the state. The officials have been asked to conduct Rapid Antigen tests (RAT) at airports, railway stations and bus stands and send the suspected cases to hospitals for the RT-PCR tests and genome sequencing.
Delhi: In wake of the Covid cases across some countries, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called an emergency meeting on Thursday to review the preparations against the disease. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia along with other senior officials of the Health Department will participate in the meeting. Though nothing has been confirmed as of now, some major decisions might be taken in the meeting.
Gujarat: Gujarat Health Minister Rishikesh Patel instructed authoritied to increase the testing of foreign arrivals at international airports. He chaired a meeting of the Department’s senior officers here where the Minister was briefed about the present situation in the state. Patel also instructed to to follow the ‘Triple T’ approach — tracing, testing and treatment — if required.
Karnataka: Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K. Sudhakar stated that considering the present situation, new guidelines will be issued soon in the state. He said that in the wake of new variants being found in other countries, the Union health ministry has directed the states to send samples of all new Covid cases for genome sequencing. “We have already taken measures to implement this,” said Sudhakar.
Maharashtra: The Maharashtra government will soon set up a Task Force to monitor the Covid situation, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the state Assembly. He said the state government will coordinate with the Central government and its agencies on this. Fadanvis was replying to a query from Opposition Leader Ajit Pawar, who raised the issue in the Lower House.
Uttarakhand: In Uttarakhand, residents can expect a fresh standard operating procedure on Covid-19 soon. Yesterday, State Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said that a new set of protocols will soon be announced amid spurt in positive cases in other countries.
As of now, total three cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7, that has led the massive surge in China, have been found in India. After the first case of BF.7 was detected in October by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre, another case was also reported in the same month and the third case of this variant was detected in November.
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