Tuesday, 21 December 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
With the Omicron variant threatening to ignite 3rd wave slow pace of vaccination and reduced testing raises concern in U’khand
Though the specter of the third wave of the pandemic is looming large which according to the experts could be triggered by super mutant highly contagious strain of novel Coronavirus, Omicron, the state health department of Uttarakhand has adopted a relaxed attitude. On one hand the department in all probability would miss the December 31 deadline for vaccination of the entire adult population while on another the numbers of samples tested by the department for the Covid -19 have not increased despite government’s repeated insistence. In the week ending December 18, the department had tested 1,08,507 samples of suspected patients out of which 137 were found positive. In the preceding week only 95,301 tests were carried out by the department. The state government has set up a target of 25,000 tests per day for the department and according to it the department should have tested 1,75,000 samples in a week.
The cases of the Omicron strain have been reported in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Delhi but the authorities in the state are not showing the required alertness to stop the entry of the virus in the state. The screening at the railway stations and bus stands is not being done properly and the people are continuing to have smooth entry into the state. Some of the experts are of the view that though no case of Omicron is reported yet in the state, the chances are that it is already in the population here.
Health expert and founder of Social Development for communities’ foundation Anoop Nautiyal said that the department is doing two third tests as compared to the target. He said that despite the threat posed by the Omicron variant of Covid-19 the health department has not increased the pace of the vaccination and drive. It is worth mentioning here that the state reported the first case of the Covid-19 in March last year and since then a total of 3,44,602 cases of the disease have been reported. In the state 7414 patients of the disease have lost their lives.
