NITI Aayog Member-Health Dr. VK Paul on Wednesday the Omicron variant of coronavirus is not common cold and it is our responsibility to slow down its transmission. Urging everyone to get vaccinated, he added that it is a critical pillar of our COVID response.
"Omicron is not common cold, it's our responsibility to slow it down. Let's #MaskUp and get vaccinated, whoever is due. It's fact they (vaccines) are helpful to an extent. Vaccination critical pillar of our COVID response," said Dr. VK Paul.
He further cautioned against the overuse and misuse of drugs in the fight against coronavirus. "There should be a rational approach for medicine use. We are concerned about the overuse & misuse of drugs. Don't overuse, it will have aftermath...Have warm water, do gargles in home care," he added.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has revised the discharge policy of patients with severity categorised into mild and moderate cases.
"After a review meeting by PM over COVID situation, we have revised our discharge policy with severity categorised into mild and moderate cases. Mild case - Discharge after at least 7 days from testing positive & non-emergency for 3 successive days, no need for testing prior to discharge. Moderate case - if there is resolution of symptoms, patient maintains O2 saturation> 93% for 3 successive days (without O2)..such patient will be discharged," said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, India added 1,94,720 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,60,70,510 which includes 4,868 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday morning.
The active cases have increased to 9,55,319, the highest in 211 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
Of the total 4,868 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,805 people have recovered or migrated so far.
Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,281 cases followed by Rajasthan at 645,Delhi 546, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 350.
The active cases comprise 2.65 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 96.01 per cent, the ministry said.
(With PTI inputs)
