Chaini Parwani –
Published On: November 29, 2021 at 19:20 IST
India has issued Orders with developed surveillance to detect the Omicron variant among incoming International passengers, as the new variant is spread across Europe with the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Belgium reporting cases.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla noted in the meeting to review the Order to resume regular International Flights beginning December 15.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan submitted a letter to Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of States/UTs, stating the significance of an enhanced surveillance network for rigorous follow-up of travellers from all countries, mainly the ones designated ‘at risk’.
Further Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan while drafting Notices to 13 states on serious fall in test rates stated that “Ample Testing Infrastructure needs to be operationalised to tackle any surge due to the mutated virus. It has been observed that the overall testing and the proportion of the RT-PCR tests have declined in some states.”
Furthermore, Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS-New Delhi, flagged the vaccine escape potential of Omicron, citing 30 mutations in the spike protein region.
World Health Organization (WHO) opined that more analysis is necessary to determine the impact of mutations on Virus Transmissibility and its effectiveness against Vaccines, Diagnostics and Therapeutics.
Guidelines issued for passengers termed “at risk” –
- Passengers from UK, S Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, NZ, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel to be Tested.
- If tested +ve, their samples will be sent for Genome Testing.
- Seven-day home quarantine for those testing Negative.