Amidst the rising scare of Omicron cases in Delhi, Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday shared information on Corona cases in the city. He said that the Delhi government is testing all the people coming from the countries affected by the Omicron variant.

So far, a total of 27 people have been admitted to LNJP Hospital, out of which 17 people are positive and only one person has been confirmed to have Omicron variant and investigation is on for the rest of the people.

All the patients have been admitted to LNJP hospital and many of them are asymptomatic. Rejecting the possibility of lockdown because of the increasing cases of new variants of coronavirus in the country, Health Minister Shri Satyendar Jain said that the Delhi government will implement its “graded response action plan” if the cases of COVID rise.

Speaking over the issue Jain added, “There is no possibility of lockdown at the moment. The Delhi government will implement its “Graded Response Action Plan” if the cases of COVID rise. In this system, when the positivity rate reaches 0.5% i.e out of 1000 people tested 5 are positive, then the first level of this system will be implemented.

The second level will be implemented when we will reach a positivity rate of 1%, meaning that 10 people tested positive out of 1000, the third level will be implemented at a positivity rate of 2% when 20 people test positive out of a testing sample of 1000 people and the last stage or the red level will be initiated when we reach a positivity rate of 5%, meaning that 50 people tested positive out of the 1000 people tested. Last time, the red level was implemented when we had reached a positivity rate of about 14-15%.

However, at present the cases of corona in Delhi are much below 0.5%, so no lockdown will be imposed right now.

He added, “Everyone needs to be alert, as this variant is a very fast-spreading variant. It spreads even faster than the delta variant. So we need to be more careful”.

Appealing to the people, he further said, “Face masks are the only shield to prevent every variant of the virus. Everyone must wear a mask and those who did not get the second dose of the vaccine should get it as soon as possible. Only then will we be able to face Corona firmly”.

Presently in Delhi, more than 93.9% of people have received the first dose of the vaccine and more than 61.3% of people have taken both doses. Those who are vaccinated also need to follow covid appropriate behaviour.

Jain further added, “Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal had written a letter to the Center appealing to stop the flights coming from the countries affected by the Omicron variant for some time but the Central Government did not do so. Last time we appealed to the central government to stop the flights coming from abroad as soon as possible, but the central government delayed a lot in banning the flights coming from abroad, the result of which we have seen. Therefore, the central government must consider our words and stop the flights coming from the countries affected by the Omicron variant for a few days. This is the easiest and most efficient way to avoid Omicron variants. Delhi receives the maximum number of flights from abroad, so Delhi is most at risk from this.”