Stalin reviews Covid situation at high-level meeting

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is holding a meeting with State Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Health Secretary and health officials at the secretariat regarding COVID protocols and preventive measures to be taken as the COVID cases spike globally.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla wore a mask as the proceedings of the Parliament began on Thursday.

A few other MPs including Raghav Chadda, Sushil Gupta, and Minister of State for skill development Rajeev Chandrasekhar were seen wearing masks in Parliament on Thursday in the wake of a sudden surge in Covid cases in China and other countries.

Security, Visitors and Personal Staff also wore masks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to chair a high-level meeting today afternoon to review the Covid-19 situation and its related aspects in the country.

Amid a fresh global surge in Covid-19 cases, the central government has briefed all states to conduct genome sequencing of samples, the additional chief secretary of Health informed on Wednesday.

Speaking to ANI, Additional Chief Secretary of Health, Manoj Agarwal said, "The central government briefed all states to ensure proper screening of international passengers, as well as genome sequencing."

In the last six months, India reported four cases of the BF.7 Omicron sub-variant, which is driving China's current surge of infections.

Sources said, there are currently 10 different variants of Covid-19 in the country, with the latest being BF.7.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country and the preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment, and management of the pandemic.

He urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated against Covid.