New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath termed the new variant of Covid-19, the Omicron variant, as just a 'common viral fever', saying the virus has now weakened but still it is important to be vigilant.
"It is true that omicron spreads faster but it is also true that the omicron variant is much weaker than the second wave," the Chief Minister told reporters after inspecting the vaccination program for people from 15 to 18 years in the capital Lucknow.
“It's merely a normal viral fever. But it is necessary to be vigilant and cautious. There is no need to panic,'' he added.
The CM said, "It took 15 to 25 days for those affected by the delta variant of covid to recover in March-April last year and they had a lot of problems even after recovering. But the same is not the case with Omicron so far and the virus has now weakened, but, those who already have many ailments need to be very careful in this regard. The government has imposed night curfew as a precautionary measure.''
Only eight cases of omicron have been reported in UP so far: Yogi
CM Yogi said that only eight cases of omicron have been reported so far out of which three have already recovered. The rest were in home isolation.' Referring to the vaccination program for the age group of 15 to 18 in the state starting from today, the Chief Minister said that under this campaign, about 1 crore 40 lakh people would be vaccinated in the state. For this purpose, 2,150 booths have been set up in the state out of which 39 such centers have been set up in Lucknow itself, he added.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that more than 20 crore, 25 lakh people above 18 years of age have been inoculated so far in the state. Out of these, 12,84,94,516 people have been administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 7,40,93,819 people have received both the doses.