New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) has decided to issue Covid19 specific guidelines to five poll bound States after the Union Health Ministry on Monday brifed the commission over the emerging threat posed by the Omicron variant of Covid19.
Earlier, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan gave a detailed presentation to the election commission about the present situation that has emerged in India following detection of Omicron across the country.
An official in the health ministry told ETV Bharat that the commission has also been emphasized on the need of vaccination.
Bhushan has also informed the Commission about India's present Covid caseload which has witnessed a surge.
The health secretary also gave detailed presebtation about the districts where the R value has increased.
As per health ministry report, the R-value of Covid infection has gone up considerably in several States highlighting that the disease is also spreading rapidly.
The R value indicates the transmissibility of the virus. A R value less than 1 means one infected person can spread infection to less than one person. However, if the R value of bigger than 1, it indicates that one person can spread the infection to more than one person.
"The health secretary has also highlighted on the necessity to impose local restrictions where the Covid case load has been witnessing a spike," the official said.
Assembly election is scheduled to take place in the States including Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab early next year.
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