New Delhi: A day after the Union government informed that 2 people tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in Karnataka. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai called for a high-level meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state. The meeting has been called to discuss the measures to be taken in light of 2 Omicron cases reported in the state and formulate new guidelines. Bommai, who met the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya again in the light of the report, said, “The minister has stated that he would provide the details of the cases. According to preliminary reports, the effect of the variant is not too serious.” The state government is planning to tap unused stock of the Covid-19 jabs from private hospitals.
“An emergency meeting has been convened tomorrow with experts and senior officers. The meeting would discuss the measures to prevent the spread of new variant of Covid and the strategies to control it. The issue would be discussed with experts of the union government as well. Action would be taken to formulate new guidelines,” Bommai was quoted as saying in a statement by his office, late on Thursday.
Out of the two cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus that have been detected in the State, one 66-year old is a South African national who had left the country after testing negative, while the other is a local person — a doctor aged 46, with no travel history. Five contacts of the doctor have also tested positive and their samples have been sent for genomic sequencing.