Centre to send multi-disciplinary high-level teams to 10 states with high Omicron caseload

New Delhi, Dec 25: Amid steady rise in Omicron cases, the government has decided to rush multi-disciplinary Central teams to ten states including Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab.

"...A decision has been taken to deploy multi-disciplinary Central teams to 10 identified States some of which are either reporting an increasing number of Omicron and COVID19 cases or slow vaccination pace...," said Union Health Ministry in an official statement.

"These teams shall be stationed in States allotted for 3 to 5 days & will work along with State Health Authorities," reads the statement.

A total of 415 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in India so far, out of which 115 have recovered or migrated.

Maharashtra has recorded a maximum of 108 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi at 79, Gujarat 43, Telangana 38, Kerala 37, Tamil Nadu 34 and Karnataka 31.

Asserting that the Omicron variant is at least thrice more transmissible than Delta, the Centre asked states and union territories to restart war rooms, keep analyzing even small trends and surges and keep taking strict and prompt containment action at district and local levels.

The Centre advised implementing strategic interventions for containment like imposition of night curfew, strict regulation of large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals besides increasing testing and surveillance.

The advisory comes in view of initial signs of surge in cases of COVID-19 as well as increased detection of the variant of concern Omicron in different parts of the country.

With the number of Omicron cases rising and the festival season starting today, several states have imposed night curfew and other curbs.