Omicron Variant Latest Update: With the steady rise in Omicron cases in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday reviewed the situation and said his administration is ready to tackle the new COVID variant. Earlier in the day, the Delhi government also directed the private hospitals to prepare isolation units for the passengers from ‘at risk’ countries.
On December 1, the Delhi government had directed Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital, Saket, to set up separate (isolation) units for COVID-19 positive international passengers who have travelled from or transited through the countries classified as Countries At Risk’ according to the Centre’s guidelines.
The development comes as the total number of patients infected with the new variant of coronavirus in Delhi jumped by 12 on Friday to reach 22.
Giving assurance to the people of Delhi, Kejriwal said his government is ready to tackle the Omicron variant of COVID. However, he advised the general public not to panic saying even though the variant was said to spread faster than the previous ones, its symptoms were mild.
The chief minister said Delhi might not face another wave of infections, since according to the sero survey conducted by the Delhi government, 96 per cent of the state population was found to have antibodies and a majority of them were vaccinated.
“I have been holding meetings these last few days and I want to assure people that our government is ready to tackle Omicron,” Kejriwal said at a Christmas and New Year event hosted by the Delhi Assembly Speaker here in the assembly premises.
Speaking on spread of the Omicron variant, the CM hoped it doesn’t cause another wave even though it was a milder strain. “I hope that the wave doesn’t strike Delhi In case of a spread, we are prepared with all the resources. We have upgraded our health facilities after learning our lesson from all that we had lacked during the second wave,” Kejriwal said.
Corona cases: Notably, the national capital on Saturday recorded 86 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day, the highest in over five months, and zero death as the positivity rate stood at 0.13 per cent. On July 8, Delhi had reported 93 coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent, and three deaths. The rise in cases is being recorded amid the Omicron scare in Delhi as the total number of patients infected with the latest variant of coronavirus jumped by 12 on Friday to reach 22.
On Thursday, 85 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 0.15 per cent, while on Friday the daily cases count stood at 69 with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent.
