New Delhi November 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday was briefed about the new Variant of Concern ‘Omicron’ along with its characteristics and the impact seen in various countries.
According to a PMO statement, the Prime Minister asked officials to review plans for easing of international travel restrictions in light of the emerging new evidence.
The which lasted for almost two hours was held through video conferencing.
He highlighted the need for monitoring all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries identified ‘at risk’.
“The PM was given an overview of the sequencing efforts in the country and the variants circulating in the country. PM directed that genome sequencing samples be collected from international travellers and community as per norms, tested through the network of labs already established under INSACOG and early warning signal identified for Covid-19 management. The PM spoke about the need to increase the sequencing efforts and make it more broad-based,” it said.
He also directed officials to work closely with State Governments to ensure that there is proper awareness at the state and district level. He directed that intensive containment and active surveillance should continue in clusters reporting higher cases and required technical support be provided to states which are reporting higher cases presently. The PM also asked that awareness needs to be created about ventilation and air-borne behaviour of the virus, it added.
“Officials briefed PM that they are following a facilitative approach to newer pharmaceutical products. The PM instructed officials to coordinate with States to ensure that there is adequate buffer stocks of various medicines. He asked officials to work with the states to review the functioning of medical infrastructure including pediatric facilities,” it further said.
The meeting was attended by Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary, Dr. V.K.Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, A.K.Bhalla, Home Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary (MoHFW), Secretary (Pharmaceuticals); Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary (Biotechnology); Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG ICMR; Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary (AYUSH) Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary (Urban Development); R.S. Sharma CEO NHA; Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan (Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt. of India) along with other senior officials.
