Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the State government to issue orders restricting huge congregations during Christmas, New Year and Sankranthi celebrations, in the backdrop of Omicron variant of COVID spreading in the country.
Hearing a batch of petitions on matters related to Coronavirus, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N. Tukaramji said the government should issue guidelines within three days as the new variant was spreading fast. Already, Maharashtra and Delhi have passed orders restricting large gatherings during the festival season.
The bench also instructed the government to install counters at the borders with neighbouring States to ascertain whether persons coming from those States were infected. This was similar to the screening facilities at airports to ensure persons testing positive for the virus were not allowed to travel to check further spread of the virus
The government should also comply with the directives connected to controlling the new variant explained in a letter issued to all States on November 11 by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. One of the counsels for the petitioners requested the bench to direct the government to inform the court about the status of vaccination in the State as it stood third in Omicron cases.
The bench posted all petitions to January 4 for hearing, stating that it would monitor enforcement of the directives related to COVID-19.
