Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday said there were no indications that Omicron variant XBB.1.16 was leading to severe infection among children, and assured that the government was closely monitoring the situation. Addressing a press conference, the minister said the government was fully prepared to handle the Covid situation. Earlier in the day, Delhi Education Minister Atishi said the government is reviewing the situation and guidelines for schools will be issued soon. “Our government is reviewing the Covid situation and guidelines will be issued to all the schools in this regard very soon,” she said during a press conference.
Bharadwaj said there were no indications that Omicron variant XBB.1.16 was leading to severe infection among children, and assured that the government was closely monitoring the situation. “Commonly, any illness affects children and the elderly. But there is no information coming in from experts that says that the Omicron XBB.1.16 variant infection is more severe among children,” he said.
“I would advise people with low immunity or those with severe illnesses to avoid crowded places and wear masks. The transmissibility of this variant is high,” he added. Noting that the cases are rising, Bharadwaj expressed hope that they will plateau soon. “The government is fully prepared. There are adequate number of oxygen beds, ventilator beds, ICU beds. By the grace of god, we should not require them.
The government is closely monitoring the situation,” he said. The national capital logged 1,149 fresh cases and one fatality on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, according to the chairperson of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference Sudha Acharya, over 200 private schools have already made masks mandatory for students. Acharya said around 230 private schools in Delhi have mandated mask for all students and implemented social distancing norms as well.
“Since the Covid situation is deteriorating again, we have decided to take precautionary measures beforehand.
Masks have been made compulsory for students and social distancing norms have also been implemented,” Acharya said. Schools including Bal Bharti, Delhi Public school, St Mary’s school and Alchon Public School have implemented Covid-related norms.
The national capital logged 1,149 fresh cases and one fatality on Wednesday.
Delhi’s single-day caseload addition on Wednesday breached the 1,000-mark for the first time in over seven months with 23.8 per cent positivity rate, according to data shared by the Health department.