'Be vigilant', WHO tells Southeast Asia countries amid case surge, emergence of new variant

Amid the detection of a new coronavirus variant and surge in cases elsewhere the WHO Saturday asked countries in the southeast Asia region to scale up surveillance strengthen public health and social measures and enhance vaccination coverageThe global health body said festivities and celebrations must include all precautionary measures and crowds and large gatherings must be avoidedAt no cost should we let our guards down said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh Regional Director WHO SouthEast Asia RegionThough COVID19 cases have been declining in most countries of our Region the surge in cases elsewhere in the world and confirmation of a new Variant ofConcern is a reminder of the persisting risk and the need for us to continue to do our best to protect against the virus and prevent its spread she said in a statementCountries must enhance surveillance and sequencing she saidBased on updated information on circulating variants and response capacities they should assess the risk of importation through international travel and take measures accordingly she saidAlso read Passengers from South Africa to be quarantined in Mumbai on arrival Mayor Kishori PednekarComprehensive and tailored public health and social measures to prevent transmission must continue Singh stressed noting that the earlier the protective measures are implemented the less restrictive they would need to be in order to be effectiveThe more COVID19 circulates the more opportunities the virus will have to change and mutate and the pandemic will last longer the Regional Director saidThe most important thing people must do is reduce their risk of exposure to the virus iquest wear a mask covering nose and mouth keep safe distance avoid poorly ventilated or crowded spaces keep hands clean cover cough and sneeze and get vaccinated she statedAs of today 31 per cent of the Regions population is fully vaccinated 2137 partially vaccinated while nearly 4837 or about a billion people are yet to receive even a single dose of the COVID19 vaccine she said adding that they continue to be at risk of contracting severe disease and spreading the virus furtherEven after getting vaccinated everyone must continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected and to infect someone else who may get severely affected by the virus she suggestedThe WHOs Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution met Friday and designated B11529 as a variant of concern and named it Omicron Researchers are working to understand how transmissible or virulent this variant is and how it will impact diagnostics therapeutics and vaccinesWe must not forget that the pandemic is far from over As societies open up we should not get complacent Festivities and celebrations must include all precautionary measures Crowds and large gatherings must be avoided The current situation warrants further stepping up efforts on all fronts the Regional Director saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever