Uttar Pradesh lockdown news: Agra administration issues new guidelines as Omicron fear grips India

Amid the rising fear of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, the Agra administration has decided to implement preventative measures to keep the virus at bay. With the city of Taj being an attractive tourist destination for foreigners, the administration has asked all city hotels to keep it informed of all their overseas guests.

Stepping up its anti-COVID vigil amid the Omicron scare, the city administration has also upgraded its anti-COVID mechanism to subject travellers to RT-PCR tests at bus and railway stations and monuments, an Agra Health Department official said on Thursday.

"We have also arranged facilities for vaccination at the Taj Mahal and Agra Cantt Railway Station, besides some other places," said Agra Chief Medical Officer Arun Kumar Srivastava.

Besides at the Taj Mahal and various city railway stations, foreigners can avail of COVID-19 vaccination also at the district's urban and rural health centres and government hospitals, he said.

Agra's Sarojini Naidu Medical College and Hospital Principal Prashant Gupta too sounded confident of his hospital preparedness to tackle any COVID-19 wave, including that due to the Omicron variant of the virus.

"We are prepared to tackle the Omicron variant of the COVID-19. Have dedicated trained staff and beds in the medical college premises," Dr Gupta said.

The hospital has also about 150 ventilators for the treatment of COVID patients. Doctors have also appealed to the city residents to continue wearing masks and taking all other precautions to keep all COVID variants, including Omicron at bay.