The battle against the coronavirus is still ongoing across the globe. Even advanced nations have found it difficult to defeat the pandemic as it has still been claiming lives. Curbing the deadly contagion is an uphill task due mainly to a mutation in the virus. Various variants of the virus have stalked human beings, claiming more lives. Earlier, the Delta variant proved a major headache for the world as the highly infectious strain made the task of defeating COVID-19 all the more difficult. Meanwhile, the first case of Omicron infection was detected in Nepal on Monday. The Ministry of Health and Population confirmed that two persons who had returned from South Africa were found to have been infected with Omicron. The new variant was first detected in South Africa. Detection of the new virus variant in the country calls for high level of caution, contact tracing and isolation measures to prevent further spread. At a time when the nation is opening up normal activities, the first Omicron cases must ring an alarm bell to revert to safety measures and extra care to abide by health protocols. The latest variant is said to be more infectious, although health experts are yet to come up with thorough findings of this strain. The dread of the virus has gone up after cases were detected in many nations. Omicron has been detected in many patients in India, raising alarm here due to the porous border.

Against such a backdrop, it is high time that our authority made all preparations to fight Omicron effectively. Our health authority said the Ministry of Health and Population, public hospitals and private health centres remain perpetually on guard not to allow Omicron to wreak havoc once the virus makes its presence in our country. As this new variant is said to be very infectious, our health authorities must update their health safety protocols against the virus and keep all equipment at health centres across the nation standby. It should not allow a repetition of the situation when the Delta virus affected people. The shortage of beds, oxygen and other equipment led to the death of many patients. During that time people died as they failed to receive the required amount of oxygen in time. This should not happen when we face real threat of Omicron. Oxygen cylinders, ventilators and oxygen plants must be kept in enough amounts to fight the Omicron menace.

The Education and Health Committee of the House of Representatives appears to have realised the true danger posed by Omicron, spurring it to advise the government, or to the Health Minister precisely, to make preparations against the new variant of coronavirus to save lives. The Committee asked the Health Ministry to keep oxygen cylinders, ventilators and oxygen plants ready because Omicron risk is growing and to maintain health protocols in border areas. It has also asked the government to provide vaccines to the people in an easy manner. As the risk of the new variant grows, health experts are talking about providing booster doses to people so that the threat of the virus could be kept at bay. Though our authorities have been providing vaccines to various target groups efficiently which is why COVID cases have come down sharply, it should remain in perpetual vigil to not allow any deterioration of the situation. Our authorities should remain highly alert that even when Omicron has been detected in the nation, the virus cannot cause damage to the lives of the people.