After the Centre announced that two people had tested positive for the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus in Karnataka, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reacted that it was “sad” India did not stop flights from affected countries.
After news of the variant being detected in South Africa followed by countries in Europe surfaced,the CM had urged the Prime Minister on two separate occasions to stop flights from countries where the variant was detected.
Responding to a tweet which said that two patients had tested positive for the Omicron variant, Kejriwal tweeted, “It’s sad that we did not stop flights from affected countries.”
As per the new rules, travellers who travel to India from countries where the variant has been detected – this includes South Africa, UK and countries in the European Union — have to submit their swab samples at the airport for testing. They cannot leave before the test results are out and if they test positive, they are being admitted to the Lok Nayak Hospital. Their samples are being sent for genome testing to see which variant they have been infected with.
The Delta variant in Delhi has been detected in over 90% of Covid samples that have been tested over the past three months. The remaining samples are of variants that already have a presence in India.
In a letter to the PM on Sunday, Kejriwal had written, “Our country has fought a tough fight against Corona for the last one and a half years. With great difficulty and due to the selfless service of millions of our Covid warriors, our country has recovered from Corona. We should do everything possible to prevent the new variant of concern, recently recognised by WHO, from entering India. A number of countries, including the European Union, have suspended travel to the affected regions. I urge you to stop flights from these regions with immediate effect. Any delay in this regard may prove harmful, if any affected person enters India.”
