Omicron threat: At high-level meet, PM Modi says it's important to be vigilant, cautious - 10 points

Narendra Modi took stock of the pandemic situation across the country in a high-level meeting attended by senior officials and experts.

Pic courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: Amid rising concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a review meeting on the COVID-19 situation in the country on Thursday evening. Official sources said Modi took stock of the pandemic situation across the country in a high-level meeting attended by senior officials and experts.

Here are some of the statements the PM made at the meeting"

- In view of the new variant of Omicron, we should be 'satark' (vigilant) and 'saavdhan' (cautious). 

- The government is alert, seized of the evolving situation; we are taking proactive action.

- The government is helping states for containment and management under 'Whole of Government' approach.

- Focus should be on prompt, effective contact tracing, ramping up testing, accelerating vaccination, and boosting health infrastructure.

- Centre to send teams to states with low vaccination, rising Covid cases, insufficient health infrastructure to assist them.

- Strategy for a proactive, focussed, collaborative, cooperative fight against Covid should guide all our actions.

- It's important for states to ensure oxygen supply equipment is installed, fully functional.

- PM Narendra Modi also called for the effective use of IT tools for telemedicine and teleconsultations.

- An official statement from the government also mentioned that over 88% of the eligible population have been given the first dose of the Covid vaccine

- 60% people have received the second dose, the statement said

In a communication to the states and UTs on Tuesday, the Centre said the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is at least thrice more transmissible than its Delta variant and asked them to "activate" war rooms, keep analysing even small trends and surges and keep taking strict and prompt containment action at the district and local levels.

There have been demands that the government allows booster doses of vaccines to be administered to those already fully inoculated against COVID-19, as has been done by many countries.