NEW DELHI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The chief minister of the Indian capital city on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suspend incoming flights from the countries affected by the new COVID-19 variant, or Omicron.
"I urge prime minister to stop flights from those countries which are affected by new variant. With great difficulty, our country has recovered from COVID-19. We should do everything possible to prevent this new variant from entering India," Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal wrote on social media.
The local government of Delhi has also called a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) next week to discuss how to deal with the threat presented by the B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant which was first detected in South Africa and now named Omicron.
"In view of the threat from the new COVID-19 variant from African countries, we have requested experts to make a presentation to DDMA on Monday and suggest what steps we should take. We will take all steps necessary to protect you and your family," Kejriwal said on Friday.
At present India is reporting lesser cases of COVID-19 on daily basis.
On Friday Indian government said scheduled international passenger flights to and from India would be allowed to return to pre-COVID-19 frequencies from Dec. 15. However, services to certain "at-risk" countries shall remain restricted.
The government has also asked states to carry out rigorous screening of passengers from countries reporting the Omicron strain.
