New Year celebrations: Telangana HC directs govt to tighten curbs

Hyderabad: Amid omicron scare, Telangana high court on Thursday directed state government to tighten curbs on gatherings on Christmas and New Year.

The court has directed the government to make it mandatory for the persons coming from other state to undergo COVID-19 test at Hyderabad Airport.

On Wednesday, Telangana reported 14 new infections taking the state’s tally to 38. Of the new cases, 12 were detected among passengers who came from other than “at risk” countries while two passengers from “at risk” countries also tested positive for the new variant of Covid-19.

In order to curb the spread of Omicron cases in the state, the health authorities at Hyderabad Airport are conducting RT-PCR tests on two per cent of the passengers coming from other than “at risk” countries.

As per the Centre’s guidelines, they are being allowed to go home even if they test Covid positive. However, their samples are being sent for genome sequencing. If they test Omicron positive, the authorities are tracing them on the basis of the address provided by them on arrival at the airport.

Delhi also imposed restrictions on New Year celebrations

In view of the rising cases of Omicron in Delhi, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has put a ban on all kinds of gatherings on Christmas and New Year in the national capital.

“As per the DDMA order, all social, political, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious, and festival related gathering and congregations are completely prohibited in Delhi. ,” the DDMA order read.

So far, as many as 236 cases of Omicron have been detected across India. Maharashtra recorded 65 cases, the highest among all states and UTs.