Shiksha Dev |THE DEN|
UP government issued new restrictions related to Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Thursday in response to the outbreak of Omicron, the highly contagious new variant which has taken the world, and by extension the country, by storm. Under the new guidelines, all travelers coming to Uttar Pradesh must undergo thermal scanning. Any of them testing positive for Covid-19 should be isolated. In an official order accessed by news agency ANI, the government has directed railway and bus stations in every district to maintain a medical team for the sampling of coronavirus diseases.
According to Omicron guidelines issued in Uttar Pradesh, district collectors and chief medical officers are required to visit airports within their jurisdiction and ensure that all arriving passengers are subjected to thermal scanning. Individuals testing positive for the virus should be isolated separately as per the prescribed protocol, and authorities should initiate contact tracing as soon as possible.
In the meantime, the district collectors in Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad have been asked to coordinate with the Delhi government to issue specific orders covering international passengers, whose lists will be provided to the respective medical officers.
The country has yet to see a case of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron. However, concerns remain high. Approximately 3,476 passengers from 11 international flights from 'at risk' countries were screened for Covid-19 on Wednesday.
World Health Organisation (WHO) received its first report of Omicron (B.1.1.529) from South Africa on November 25. A specimen collected on November 9 this year was the first confirmed case of B.1.1.529 infection, according to the WHO. Global public health organization, World Health Organization, classified Omicron as a disease of concern last month.