BRACING FOR IMPACT

and 200 deaths in 24 hours; the lowest single-day spike in over 18 months. Active cases currently stand at 95,014, the lowest in 554 days. Yet, instead of heaving a sigh of relief, public health officials across the country are gearing up for battle once again. Ever since cases of the new Covid variant, Omicron, have been confirmed in India, both the Centre and states are stepping up measures to ensure that transmission remains as low as possible. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened when the Delta variant was left to spread unchecked. In Delhi’s Shahdara, for instance, a Covid care centre reserved for Delhi police personnel has been revived. Its 78 beds have been dusted and oxygen has been secured for 20 beds. A little further away, the capital’s largest Covid hospital, the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Narayan Hospital, has also begun taking stock of its beds and oxygen situation. “We just don’t want to take