New Delhi: Amid the ongoing threat of Omicron variant of the Coronavirus which is slowly expanding its grip in the country, the Centre on Friday issued a stern warning about the declining compliance to mask usage and urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated in order to avoid surge in cases.
While addressing a press conference, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) urged people to follow all safety protocols during wedding celebrations, parties and other gatherings.
As per latest data by the government, 25 cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in the country so far and mild symptoms have been noted in all these cases.
Clinically, Omicron is not posing a burden on the healthcare system yet, but vigil has to be maintained, the government pointed out. Agarwal, in his address, said that WHO has highlighted that Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) compliance is declining with increase in vaccination rate.
"We need to diligently adhere to these public health measures in order to safeguard ourselves and those around us against COVID-19, the WHO has said," he said adding that citizens must strictly follow Covid-appropriate behaviour to prevent surge in cases as being seen in European countries.
Meanwhile, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said the usage of masks in the country has declined to pre-second wave levels and "in a way we have again entered a danger zone".
The use of masks is declining, he pointed out, and said "from the point of view of protection capability, we are now operating at a low level...at a risky and unacceptable level".
Warning against less usage of face masks, officials also pointed out that a similar decline in mask usage was noted in the period just before the second wave of Covid infections devastated the country.
The Health Ministry officials further said that after the declaration of Omicron as a 'variant of concern' on November 27, all states and union territories (UTs) were advised to increase surveillance at airports, increase testing and continue monitoring hotspots.
States have also asked to adopt a mission mode approach for reviewing health infrastructure preparedness.
Meanwhile, Agarwal also said that 86.2 per cent of the country's adult population received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 53.5 per cent has been administered both doses.
According to the Health Ministry's updated data, India's coronavirus tally climbed to 3,46,74,744 with the addition of 8,503 infections in a day, while the number of active cases rose to 94,943.
(With inputs from PTI)