New Delhi: The Center said the Omicron COVID variant was not the common cold and should not be taken lightly. Addressing a media briefing, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog said that it was important to vaccinate and follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.
“Omicron is not the common cold, it’s our responsibility to slow it down. Let’s put on a mask and get vaccinated, whatever is due. It’s actually they (vaccines) that are helpful to an extent. Vaccination is an important pillar of our COVID response,” Dr. VK Pal said.
Omicron is not the common cold, it is our responsibility to slow it down. let’s go #maskup And get vaccinated, whatever is due. It is true that they (vaccines) are helpful to an extent. Immunization important pillar of our COVID response: NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul pic.twitter.com/bEv7Ne8vtp
— ANI (@ANI) 12 January 2022
Health Ministry’s Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said that 115 people have been confirmed dead globally and one death has been reported in India due to the highly transmissible omicron variant.
“Omicron has a substantial development advantage over Delta according to WHO. Data from South Africa, UK, Canada, Denmark suggest that the risk of hospitalization is low. omicron Compared to Delta,” he said.
Read | Hospitalization rate has stabilized, Covid cases have stopped: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain
The Union Health Ministry said that India witnessed a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, with Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat emerging as states of concern.
Lav Agarwal said that the positivity rate of the case has increased from 1.1% on December 30 to 11.05% on January 12. Agarwal said that there are more than 10,000 active COVID cases in 19 states.
“Currently, 300 districts in India are reporting weekly positivity of more than 5%. The positivity rate in Maharashtra is 22.39%, in West Bengal 32.18% and in Delhi 23.1%,” he said.
The Health Ministry has revised the leave policy with severity classified into mild and moderate cases.
Lav Agarwal said, “Mild cases should be discharged for three consecutive days after at least seven days from positive and non-emergency test. There is no need for testing before discharge.”
“For moderate cases, if the symptoms resolve and the patient maintains oxygen saturation above 93% for three consecutive days (without oxygen support), such patient will be discharged,” he adds.
Emphasizing on the importance of vaccination, Agarwal quoted WHO as saying that the effectiveness of the vaccine against hospitalization appears to be much higher than that of symptomatic COVID-19 disease.
India added 1,94,720 new infections to Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 3,60,70,510, according to data from the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday.
Active cases have increased to 9,55,319, which is the highest in 211 days. The death toll has risen to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh deaths.
See below health equipment-
Calculate your body mass index (BMI)
,