'Decisions to be taken on Covid-19 SOPs in consultation with Centre, Task Force'

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said future decisions on Covid19 SOPs will be taken in consultation with the Union Health Ministry and the state Task Force amid a difference between the Centre and the state over guidelines for international travellers in the wake of the new variant of SARSCoV2Talking to reporters Pawar said it takes seveneight days to know if anyone has been infected with the Omicron variant of SARSCoV2 He said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has held a meeting with all district collectors and given instructions At the national level the prime minister is also looking into it he notedSome guidelines have been tweakediquestthe guidelines before the variant came to the fore and the guidelines when the variant was found in other countries Pawar said As per the prevailing conditions along with consultations with the Task Force the Union Health Ministry future decisions are to be taken on that basis the deputy chief minister saidPawar said some experts are of the opinion that the Omicron variant of SARSCov2 transmits faster but its severity is not like the one seen in the Delta variant that was behind the deadly second wave between March and May this year He said to allay fears about the new variant the Union Health Ministry or the World Health Organisation WHO should come up with research that can help understand this phenomenon betterMaharashtra Chief Secretary Debashish Chakravarty on Thursday said the state government was considering a revision of its air travel guidelines a day after the Centre wrote to the state saying its order was in divergence with the Covid19 SoPs and guidelines issued by the Union governmentIn view of global concerns over the Omicron variant Maharashtra has mandated sevenday institutional quarantine for travellers arriving in the state from atrisk countries under the guidelines issued by the State Disaster Management Authority on Tuesday night Such passengers will also undergo RTPCR test on the second fourth and seventh day of arrival If found to be Covid19 positive the passenger will be shifted to a hospital In case the test is negative the passenger will still have to undergo sevenday home quarantineUnion Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Wednesday in a letter addressed to Maharashtra Health and Family Welfare Departments Additional Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Vyas asked the state to align its order with the SOPs issued by the CentreThis 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