Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chairing a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the public health response measures for containing and managing Covid-19 and strengthening health infrastructure including availability of drugs and oxygen cylinders amid the growing Omicron scare, called for prompt and effective contact tracing, ramping up of testing, and accelerating vaccination.

He was briefed about the emerging scenario globally driven by the new variant, with an overview of surge in cases in countries having high vaccination coverage and presence of Omicron variant. He was also apprised of the technical brief and priority actions recommended by the WHO in the context.