South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong flyers to be quarantined in Lucknow

Flyers coming to Lucknow from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong will have to go in for a 10-day home isolation as a precautionary measure against the new 'Omicron' variant of the novel coronavirus.

This will also apply to people of Lucknow visiting these countries on their return.

Also Read: World races to contain new Covid variant

The World Health Organisation has declared Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) as a 'variant of concern'.

"All foreign travellers will also be tested through RT-PCR at the airport itself," said Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Manoj Agrawal, who held a meeting with immigration and Airport Health Organisation on Saturday.

The travellers to these countries will have to follow the 10-day home-isolation rule even if they test negative for Covid-19 at the airport. Travellers to countries -- other than these three -- will have to isolate themselves at home only if they test positive.

Health department teams and community healthcare centres will conduct random inspections to find out whether these people are following isolation rules or not. Calls will also be made daily to these people for ten days to check their status, the CMO said.

Meanwhile, the number of active Covid-19 cases have dropped to 11 in Lucknow with three more patients recovering in the past 24 hours. Only one new case was reported.

A special Covid-19 vaccination drive will be conducted across the district on Sunday.

The health department will set up 240 booths in 135 vaccination centres. These include 10 district hospitals, 19 community healthcare centres, 18 primary healthcare centres and 88 special camps. Special focus would be on rural areas.

CMO Dr Manoj Agrawal said, "People can simply walk in with a government recognised photo ID to get vaccinated."

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