Maharashtra lockdown? Health Minister Rajesh Tope makes BIG statement amid Omicron scare

Amid the Omicron scare and citizens wondering whether a lockdown will be imposed again, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope, on Wednesday, clarified that the severity of the coronavirus variant is low and people don't need to panic. 

While briefing the media, Minister Tope said, "There is a total of 10 Omicron cases in Maharashtra till today. About 65 swabs have been sent for genome sequencing, their reports are awaited. Screenings are being conducted at International airports. The Omicron variant is spread over 54 countries so far. Transmissibility is higher. But, the severity or virulence is low. So we do not need to panic."

He further added, "We are not thinking about any lockdown in the state as of now. The state task force has given no such directions. We shall closely keep a tab on the situation and take a call on any curbs following the guidance of the Centre, state task force, and the chief minister."

When asked about Maharashtra's strategy to counter the spread, the Health Minister said, "We are working with the 3T Principle - tracking, tracing, and testing. For genome sequence, we have currently three labs. We will expand the facility further in Nagpur and Aurangabad."

Meanwhile, India reported nearly two dozen Omicron cases so far. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Wednesday asked all the States to submit all the samples of positive cases of international travellers and their contacts as well as from emerging hotspots.

A 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'.