With cases of XE variant of Covid emerging in various states, concerned over the same, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain today said there is “no need to panic about the ‘XE Variant’ of Corona, the number of patients admitted in hospitals is declining”.
Addressing a press conference on Monday regarding the newly emerged XE variant, Jain said, “The XE variant is yet to be classified as a variant of concern”.
“New variants of the virus are being discovered around the world almost every other day, and many more will emerge as time passes. We have to understand that unless a variant is deemed as a ‘variant of concern’ by the WHO, we need not be worried about it,” added Jain.
However, he said, we still need to keep our guards up and follow the rules pertaining to the pandemic.
He added that the Delhi Government has taken all necessary precautions beforehand to tackle any rise in cases.
Jain said, “We are closely monitoring the Covid situation in Delhi. There is no need to focus on the infection rate at the moment, as the number of hospital admissions is decreasing day by day and the total daily cases are between 100 to 200.”
Responding to questions posed about precautionary doses and the lifting of the penalty for not wearing masks, the health minister said, “The cases have gone down substantially and the hospital admissions have followed suit as well. Only around 49 people were admitted into hospitals, which is a significant fall in numbers from around 150 people being admitted a month ago. We have to understand that COVID is here to stay and we have to learn to live with it and make changes to our policies accordingly.”
The Health Minister of Delhi urged people to follow the rules related to Corona. “There is no need to panic. The only way to prevent the virus from spreading is to take precautions and follow all the protocols related to COVID at all times,” he said.