New Delhi: With the number of Omicron cases rising rapidly, the Centre today issued a fresh directive to states and union territories urging them to take necessary precautions. The government also asked the states to not let the guard down during the year-end festivities.
"States may consider imposing need based local curbs/restrictions, to control the crowd during the festive season," Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote in a letter to all states.
Me Bhalla also urged local and district administrations to take appropriate containment measures based on the normative framework.
The Centre said that states and districts could consider imposing prohibitory restrictions under Section 144 to enforce social distancing and Covid-appropriate norms.
The order comes on a day when India logged the highest single-day rise of Omicron cases with 156 fresh cases, taking the total tally of such infections to 578.
The health ministry said 151 out of the 578 people, who contracted the infection, have recovered or migrated.
In an earlier order, the health ministry had stated the need to be vigilant as Omicron was spreading rapidly, while the Delta variant of coronavirus was still present in different parts of the country.
The home secretary said on December 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the status of COVID-19, Omicron VOC and preparedness of health systems across the country.
After review, the prime minister has directed that everyone should maintain a high level of vigil and alertness.
The state governments should ensure that the health systems in the States are strengthened to meet any challenge posed by the new variant, Mr Bhalla said.