Thiruvananthapuram: Following the detection of a new Covid variant Omicron in South Africa, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Monday that while things are under control so far, utmost caution must be maintained and that all those arriving from high-risk countries will be quarantined for seven days as a precautionary measure.

"On the eighth day, they'll have to do an RT-PCR test, and if it's negative, they'll have to continue under self-imposed monitoring," she said. All four international airports have been placed on high alert, according to George, and teams will be screening all arriving passengers. "At this time, there is no need for concern," she said, adding that a comprehensive discussion will be held on Tuesday, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to assess the situation further.

The new variant's alarm comes at a time when Kerala has been registering 50 percent of daily new Covid cases in the country over the past three months, and has a comparable record of having the total number of active cases. George urged everyone to get the immunizations, and according to the latest numbers, 96 percent of those over the age of 18 had received the first dosage, and 63 percent have received both.

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