- News>
- India
Trace, test, treatment: Gujarat on alert after first Omicron case
Gujarat CM chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness and instructed officials to strictly implement the Centre`s COVID-19 guidelines.
Highlights
- Gujarat reported its first Omicron case today.
- Omicron is labelled as variant of concern.
- India has 3 Omicron cases so far.
New Delhi: As Gujarat registered its first and India’s third infection of Omicron COVID-19 variant, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday (December 4) stressed on tracing, testing, and treatment to detect positive cases.
Patel chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness and instructed officials to strictly implement the Centre’s COVID-19 guidelines.
“Following the first case of Omicron in Jamnagar, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel reviewed the readiness of the state health system, at a high-level meeting. He instructed to strictly implement new guidelines issued by the Govt of India regarding Omicron variant in the state,” Gujarat CMO was quoted as saying by ANI.
The Gujarat CM also urged people to adhere to strict COVID protocols. “CM gave clear instructions to proceed with the strategy of tracing, testing, and treatment in positive cases. He also appealed to all citizens to use social distancing, masks to the fullest, urging them to be vigilant and cautious even in the context of this new variant,” the CMO said.
The Gujarat health department confirmed on Saturday that a 72-year-old man was found infected with the Omicron variant in Jamnagar city, days after he arrived in the state from Zimbabwe.
The man had arrived in Gujarat from Zimbabwe on November 28 and had tested positive for COVID-19 on December 2, after which his sample was sent for genome sequencing to Ahmedabad, officials told PTI.
The man has been living in Zimbabwe for many years and recently arrived in Gujarat to meet his father-in-law. The district authorities have already started his contact tracing as per protocols, officials said.
As per Centre’s list, "at-risk" countries are European nations, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
Karnataka logged India's first two cases of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry had informed on Thursday.
(With agency inputs)