Omicron Variant: DDMA, Delhi govt to hold review meeting today

New Delhi, Dec 20: In view of increasing cases of COVID-19's Omicron variant in the city, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and the Delhi government including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a review meeting on Monday at 11.30 am, said an official notification by DDMA.

This meeting will be held through video conferencing, Lt Governor Anil Baijal will preside over the meeting, added the notification.

The discussion will be held in the meeting regarding the increasing cases of Omicron in Delhi and the current situation of COVID-19 will be reviewed in the meeting, as per the notification.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain, NITI Aayog member VK Paul and Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev and all-important officers of the Health Department of the Delhi Government will be present in the meeting.

The Delhi government on Saturday converted four private hospitals into dedicated centres for the treatment of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.These four hospitals are Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Max Hospital in Saket, Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj and Batra Hospital in the Tughlakabad area of the national capital.

India has so far reported over 100 cases of the Omicron.

Delhi, which has so far identified 22 cases of Omicron, is the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, where 40 persons have so far been found to be infected by the new variant of Covid-19.

The new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year. On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. The WHO has classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern'.