The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Tuesday issued 15-point guidelines to prevent the highly contagious new African COVID-19 variant named Omicron.

The whole world has remained alert to tackle the spike of new coronavirus variant Omicron, an official release said today.

The guidelines are as follows:

1. Strengthening of medical test and screening of passengers, who are arriving from Omicron infected countries, at gateways -- land, air and waterways.
2. All types of public gatherings (social/political/religious/others) have to be discouraged.
3. People must follow all essential health rules including wearing facemasks while going outside the house.
4. Limiting dining facility at restaurants should be ensured.
5. Limiting people's gathering at different places including tourist spot, recreation centre, resort, community centre, cinema hall/ theatre hall and social programmes should be ensured.
6. Health rules including wearing facemasks must be maintained at all places of worship as well as mosques.
7. Health rules must be maintained at public transports.
8. Passengers arriving from the infected countries have to be kept for 14-day quarantine.
9. All educational institutions (madrasah, pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher secondary and universities) and coaching centres must maintain health rules.
10. Healthcare professionals and health service recipients must follow heath guidelines strictly.
11. Unvaccinated people must receive first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines from vaccination centres.
12. People with suspected coronavirus cases, positive patients and other people who have come in close contact with Covid-19 patients have to be kept in quarantine.
13. The suspected Covid-19 people have to be kept at isolation as well as they have to be brought under testing facility.
14. Wearing face masks must be made mandatory at offices besides maintaining other health rules.
15. Vaccinated people must wear facemasks while going outside.

Source: BSS