Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is set to make a statement in both the Houses of Parliament on Thursday regarding Covid-19.
He is likely to make his statement at 2 pm in Lok Sabha and 2.30 pm in Rajya Sabha. Amid the challenge posed by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in some countries including China, Japan, South Korea, France, and the United States, Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to review the COVID-19 situation in India and the preparedness of public health system for surveillance, containment, and management of COVID-19. He urged people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated against the virus.
Emphasizing that COVID-19 is not over yet, he asked the officials to be fully geared up and strengthen surveillance.
Meanwhile, former Health Minister Harshvardhan emphasized on taking timely precautions and the effectiveness of wearing face masks.
“Masks are quite effective as far as Covid is concerned. We should take all the timely precautions. There’s no harm in wearing masks as they also protect us from pollutants in the air,” Former Union Health Minister Harshvardhan.
However, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi alleged that the Opposition had been showing “their attitude” towards the Covid guidelines.
“Both the chairs in the Parliament have requested the members to wear face masks during proceedings. But the leaders from the Opposition did not wear masks which shows their attitude towards Covid guidelines,” Pralhad Joshi said addressing the media persons.
India has in the past six months reported four cases of the BF.7 Omicron sub-variant, which is driving the current surge of infections in China. Various states have also stepped up vigil.
Notably, during the Wednesday meeting, Health Minister Mandaviya was briefed on the global COVID-19 situation and the domestic scenario. He noted the importance of being prepared and remaining alert against new and emerging strains of COVID-19, especially in view of the upcoming festive season.
Mandaviya directed the officials to be fully geared up and strengthen the surveillance system for whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network to ensure timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country.
“This would facilitate the undertaking of appropriate public health measures. States/UTs have been requested to send samples of all COVID-19 positive cases to INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) on a daily basis, for sequencing, to track new variants, if any,” the Health Minister said.
Meanwhile, Dr VK Paul, Member, Niti Aayog, who was present at the meeting, said that only 27-28 per cent of people have taken precaution dose. He called upon people to wear masks in crowded places.
“We appeal to others, especially senior citizens, to take the precautionary dose. Use a mask if you are in a crowded space, indoors or outdoors. This is all the more important for people with comorbidities or those of higher age,” Dr Paul said.
As a precautionary measure, the government has from Wednesday restarted random sampling of international passengers at airports across the country for COVID-19.
Today in the Parliament, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla wore a mask as the proceedings began. A few other MPs including Raghav Chadda, Sushil Gupta, and Minister of State for skill development Rajeev Chandrasekhar were also seen wearing masks in the wake of a sudden surge in Covid cases in China and other countries. Security, Visitors, and Personal Staff also wore masks. (ANI)
