PM Modi chairs meeting on Covid situation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a meeting with senior government officials on Saturday to examine the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) situation in India and the countrywide vaccination strategy to halt the pandemic’s spread. The news comes at a time when worldwide infectious disease specialists are worried about the Omicron strain of the coronavirus, which was initially discovered in South Africa and is commonly regarded as having more mutations and a higher transmission rate.

On November 26, the World Health Organization designated the newly found B.1.1.529 COVID-19 strain, which was initially isolated in southern Africa, as a variation of concern and dubbed it Omicron. The categorization places Omicron, along with the internationally dominating Delta and its lesser competitors Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, in the most troublesome category of COVID-19 variations.

With the discovery of a novel coronavirus variety in South Africa, scientists and health professionals in India have warned that additional waves of infection are expected, and that unless action is taken swiftly and effectively, the country may face repeat waves. In comparison to two years ago, India today has superior tools, according to Vinod Scaria, a scientist at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB). To be better prepared, he argued, the government needed to increase its vaccination push, public health measures, health infrastructure, and genetic surveillance.

The meeting cjaired by PM Modi is being attended by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, P K Mishra, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and NITI Aayog member (health) Dr V K Paul among others.

The meeting comes amid rising global concerns over a new strain of the coronavirus which the World Health Organization has named ‘Omicron’ and classified as a highly transmissible virus of concern.