Omicron cases increased, lockdown like restriction soon in Karnataka, govt says

Six new cases of Omicron have been confirmed in Karnataka saturday. Five of these cases are from two cluster outbreaks of Covid in two different educational institutions in the state’s Dakshina Kannada region. Rising fears over the spread of the Omicron variant in the state, the government of Karnataka has said that the administration is likely to impose strict lockdown like restriction soon.

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar recently said that people in the state can be seen flouting COVID-19 norms, and so, the state government will soon issue a new set of advisories and regulations in order to make sure that the spread of the Omicron variant is contained.

the health minister said, “Omicron is highly infectious. We should keep our guards on. Masking and social distancing should be practised. It is unfortunate that people are not wearing masks, we will be passing advisories and regulations on the same.”

The first cluster has 14 Covid cases, with four of Omicron and the second has 19 cases with one confirmed as Omicron.  “Out of 5 students,4 have already tested negative for Covid 19 and are attending classes whereas one girl is under quarantine and even she doesn’t have any symptom… None of them or their immediate relative have any travel history abroad,” said Dr Ashok, the nodal officer of the Dakshina Kannada District

A traveller from the UK has also tested positive in the state, taking the total number of Omicron cases to 14. Karnataka’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has also recently recommended to the state government that the imposition of a lockdown should be considered in certain districts only if the weekly test positivity rate (WTPR) goes beyond 5 percent and occupancy of oxygen beds goes up to 60 percent.

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Further, the TAC has assured the Karnataka government that there is no need for panic yet as the situation is not alarming, and is currently under control. It also said that the Karnataka administration has already readied its health infrastructures to battle the third wave of the pandemic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also warned that the Omicron variant is spreading across the world at an alarming rate, and is most probably present in every country across the globe.