Prime minister Narendra Modi

After the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new variant to be “of concern”, Modi “highlighted the need for monitoring all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries, identified ‘at risk’,” the government said in a statement after he met with officials to review the COVID-19 and vaccination situation.

New Delhi:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told officials on Saturday to review plans to ease travel restrictions as concerns rise over the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The world’s second-worst affected country by the pandemic had only Friday decided to resume international passenger flights from countries deemed “at-risk” of the coronavirus, while ordering tightened border screening.

But after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new variant to be “of concern”, Modi “highlighted the need for monitoring all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries, identified ‘at risk’,” the government said in a statement after he met with officials to review the COVID-19 and vaccination situation.

According to a release by the Prime Minister’s Office, the Prime Minister highlighted the need for monitoring all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries identified ‘at risk’. He also asked officials to review plans for easing of international travel restrictions in light of the emerging new evidence.

The Prime Minister 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.

PM Modi was given an overview of the sequencing efforts in the country and the variants circulating in the country. He 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. He also spoke about the need to increase the sequencing efforts and make it more broad-based.

The Maharashtra government has now said all travellers into state from any int’l destination shall be governed by directions of Govt of India in this respect. Domestic travellers shall either be fully vaccinated or carry RT-PCR test valid for 72 hrs.

The WHO said Omicron initially detected in South Africa, may spread more quickly than other forms. This week, India posted the smallest rise in new cases in one and a half years, due to increased vaccinations and antibodies in a large section of its population from previous infections.

The nation’s daily caseload has halved since September. It reported 8,318 new cases in the last 24 hours. But the new variant, with a spike protein dramatically different from the one existing coronavirus that vaccines are based on, has raised global alarms and frightening financial markets.

Modi said people must be more cautious and take proper precautions, such as wearing masks and social distancing. He “spoke about the need to be proactive in light of the new variant,” the statement said.

“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,” Modi told officials to accelerate second-dose coverage, it said.