Omicron highly infectious; mask and social distancing required: Karnataka Health Minister

Bengaluru, Dec 15: Amid growing concerns over the rising number of Omicron cases in the country, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday warned that the new COVID-19 variant is highly infections and that people needed to follow the social distancing norms strictly.

"Omicron is highly infectious; Masking and social distancing should be practised. It is unfortunate that people are not wearing masks. The state government would soon be passing "advisories and regulations" to ensure that the Centre's COVID-19 guidelines are strictly followed," news agency ANI quoted Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka Health Minister as saying.

He also warned that the state government would soon be passing "advisories and regulations" to ensure that the Centre's COVID-19 guidelines are strictly followed.

The remarks from Karnataka Health Minister came shortly after Telangana reported the first case of Omicron with two air passengers from Kenya and Somalia testing positive for the new variant of Covid-19.