UP action plan to deal with Omicron variant

Lucknow, Dec 1 (IANS) After successfully controlling the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government has prepared an action plan to effectively check the spread of the Omicron variant.

As per the directives issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a special team of doctors and health experts formed during the second wave of Covid-19 has prepared an action plan to avoid the spread of the Omicron variant.

According to the action plan, the special team of doctors from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) has discussed the precautions to be taken in the state regarding the spread of the new variant and its effects after vaccination.

Dr R.K. Dhiman, Director, SGPGI, said that vaccination will prove to be the most effective weapon for Uttar Pradesh against the new variant.

The state is fully prepared to deal with the new variant in view of the increased medical facilities and adequate presence of medical resources in the last one and a half years.

Dhiman further said that in view of the increasing cases of Omicron in other countries, different aspects have been discussed by the institute regarding this new variant.

In this particular meeting, it has come to the fore that this new variant of Corona spreads rapidly and its transmission rate is also high.

According to the assessment of doctors, the transmission rate of this new variant may be high but it is not more dangerous than the previous variants. He added that according to the assessment of experts, the possibility of increased mortality from this new variant is less as compared to the Delta.

To avoid the outbreak of the third wave, there is a need to follow the Covid protocol along with vaccination at the earliest, he said.

On the instructions of the chief minister, along with increasing the daily monitoring in the state, RT-PCR tests of all the travellers coming from abroad are being done and samples are being sent for genome sequencing to avoid any future risks of transmission.