Allaying fears over the new Omicron BF.7 variant, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday, said there was no single case of said virus detected in Delhi.

There has been a rise in COVID-19 cases in some countries across the world such as China, Japan, South Korea, France and the United States.

In the last six months, India reported four cases of the BF.7 Omicron sub-variant, which is driving the current surge of infections in China.

Addressing a press conference, the Delhi Chief Minister said Covid cases are rising in China and several other countries. It has the BF.7 variant, he said.

“We don’t have a single case of that variant in Delhi. So, there’s no need to worry,” he said.

Stating that at present XBB variant cases are detected in the city, Kejriwal said the Delhi government is doing genome sequencing.

Informing about the city government’s preparedness against the disease, the Delhi Chief Minister said, “We have 8,000 beds which are prepared for Covid patients in the National Capital.”

“Now, we aim to prepare 36,000 beds pertaining to the coronavirus. We have a storage capacity of 928 mt tonne oxygen in Delhi,” he said.

The Delhi Chief Minister further informed that only 24 per cent people have taken precautionary doses. “We request the people to take precautionary doses,” he said.

Kejriwal further informed that the city government has 380 ambulances. “We have given orders for procuring more ambulances,” he said.

“We are waiting on the guidelines of the Central government, as and when it gives orders we will implement,” the Delhi Chief Minister added.

The Delhi Chief Minister had called an emergency meeting to review the preparations against the disease.

India reported a total 185 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said. In the same period, the country has recorded one Covid related death, taking the national toll to 5,30,681 as per the report.

Notably, Covid cases in China, South Korea, France, and the United Kingdom are witnessing a surge. China has reported 1.48 lakh fresh cases and around 480 deaths recently.

Amid the sudden surge of COVID cases in several countries, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has issued an advisory and appealed to the public to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour with immediate effect.

In its advisory, the IMA listed out necessary steps to overcome the impending COVID outbreak, including wearing face masks in all public places, maintaining social distancing and washing hands regularly with soap and water or sanitizers. The IMD has also advised people to avoid public gatherings like marriages, political or social meetings and international travel.

It advised people to consult the doctor in case of any symptoms like fever, sore throat, cough, or loose motions and to get COVID vaccination including a precautionary dose at the earliest.

Earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the Lok Sabha said the Centre was keeping an eye on the global Covid situation following the recent surge in cases in China and other countries, and since the enemy was changing with time there was a need to continue a collective fight.

The 2 per cent random sampling of all international passengers was being considered at all international airports to minimise the risk of ingress of any new variant into the country, health minister informed the House.

“In the last few days, we have seen an increasing trajectory of Covid-19 cases across the world. India on the other hand has shown a continued decreasing trajectory of cases since last one year. Presently, 153 new cases on an average are being reported daily across the country, but globally approximately 5.87 lakh new cases are still being reported on an average on a daily basis. A large number of cases are being reported in countries, including Japan, the US, South Korea, France, Greece, Italy. There are also media reports of a high number of cases and deaths being reported from China since the last few days,” the health minister informed the House.

Mandaviya on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in India and preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment and management of COVID-19 in view of the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 in some countries.