New Delhi – Two Indian states, including populous UttarPradesh, have announced night curfews, while the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai have restricted social gatherings amid Omicron fears.
India has an active caseload of 244 Omicron cases and other 114people have been treated and discharged, the Health Ministry said on Friday.
But critics say with low testing and genome sequencing may not present the full picture.
Financial hub Mumbai has placed restrictions on large gatherings of people for Christmas and New Year and other events.
A recent order from the government of Delhi said all social, political, sports, entertainment, cultural, and religious festivals were prohibited and restaurants and bars could operate only with 50 per cent seating capacity.
Delhi and Mumbai have reported the highest number of cases of the new variants so far.
The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a curfew on movement from11 pm until 5 am beginning Saturday until further notice.
Social gatherings in Uttar Pradesh will be restricted to 200 people but it was not clear whether this would extend to election meetings rallies in the poll-bound state.
Judges of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday urged Narendra Modi’sgovernment to stop the rallies and meetings and requested India’sElection Commission postpone the polls due in February-March inseveral states given rising Omicron cases.
The federal Health Ministry has written to all states to re-activateCovid war rooms to better plan and coordinate testing, tracking and containment strategies.
