Bihar CM asks health officials to be on guard against new Covid variant

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday asked health officials of the state to remain vigilant in the wake of reports of a new coronavirus variant triggering fear across the world which is still recovering from the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kumar shared his thoughts on Omicron, the new variant, at a meeting where he reviewed the health department's functioning.

He called for keeping a close watch on those coming to the state from abroad and quick testing of samples if anybody presented symptoms.

Cases of the new coronavirus variant have been reported mainly from South Africa, besides European countries like the United Kingdom and Belgium.

The chief minister also underscored that the threat of COVID-19, which has caused large-scale devastation in the country, including Bihar, was far from over and stressed on the need for inoculation of citizens.

According to the state health department, more than eight crore people have got the COVID vaccine jabs in Bihar which has a total population of about 13 crore.

The chief minister directed the officials to ensure that those who had got only one shot should be fully vaccinated as soon as they were deemed fit for the second jab.

The meeting was attended, among others, by health minister Mangal Pandey, chief secretary Tripurari Sharan and additional chief secretary (health) Pratyay Amrit.