The Centre on Monday directed the governments in states and union territories amid a rising number of cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 to strictly follow the existing national directives for COVID-19 management throughout the country till January 31, 2022.

In view of the existing COVID-19 situation, the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter to the Chief Secretaries of states and UTs stressed that there is a "need for greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making, and strict and prompt containment actions at the local and district levels".

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla asked state governments not to let their guard down and impose need-based curbs to tackle the COVID-19 threat in the letter, arising especially due to the Omicron variant.

Bhalla wrote in the letter that "I would like to reiterate that all the states and UTs must observe all precautions, and not let their guard down. States may consider imposing need-based, local curbs/restrictions, to control the crowd during the festive season."

ALSO READ: 1st Omicron Case in Northeast Detected in Manipur