Noida/Ghaziabad: The Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad administrations called a meeting of the district task force on Friday and discussed measures to tackle the threat of the new Omicron variant.
GB Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY, who has been appointed nodal officer by the state government for coordination with airport authorities about travellers from abroad, said the district has received lists of 492 such passengers in the past two days and their tracking is underway.
The DM added that several teams have been activated for the purpose. During the meeting, the responsibility of each department, including police, administrative officials and the health department, was fixed, he said.
“We get lists of air passengers from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) through the state surveillance cell. So far, we have got lists of 492 travellers (292 till Thursday and 200 on Friday) and are tracking them. Administrative and health department officials have been given specific tasks related to sampling, deployment of rapid response teams, activation of Covid command and control room, and surveillance of patients and travellers, among others. The health department has been tasked with securing essential drugs and medicines that may be needed,” he further said.
Of 292 passengers whose list was handed over on Thursday, about 55 passengers are yet to be traced. Officials said they are facing problems because many of them have either switched off their phones or aren’t staying at the addresses mentioned in the list.
The Ghaziabad district administration, on the other hand, has decided to urge DGCA to make passengers submit a self-declaration form about their current address so that no inconvenience is faced while tracking them for monitoring purposes. A request would also be made to the authority for mentioning the name of the country from where a passenger has arrived, officials said. As many as 2,152 travellers have arrived in Ghaziabad from abroad in the past month.
District magistrate RK Singh also spoke to officials at Hindon airport and arranged for an area for a health department team inside the airport where samples of passengers and staff can be collected for Covid tests.
District surveillance officer RK Gupta said all passengers deboarding at Hindon airport from Hubli and Kalaburagi in Karnataka would be tested.
“If anyone is found infected, he would be sent directly to Santosh Hospital or District Combined Hospital. Those who test negative will be kept in home quarantine and the health department will monitor them continuously for seven days. A similar protocol would be applicable for travellers coming from abroad.”
More than 400 monitoring committees earlier formed in the district have also been activated. These committees will inform the health department about travellers in their area.
Credit Source – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/omicron-worry-noida-gets-list-of-492-international-travellers-starts-tracing/articleshow/88080649.cms
