Amid COVID surge, Chhattisgarh says 'no need to panic'

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], January 2 : As COVID cases resurge across the nation, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said that there is no need for panic and assured that the state government has made necessary arrangements.
While addressing the media here, Baghel said, "COVID cases are rising in a few cities like Raigarh and Raipur of Chhattisgarh. Since many samples have been sent to our genome sequencing centre at Odisha for Omicron, it's taking some time. No need to panic, all arrangements done by the state government."
Notably, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi spoke to Baghel today to take stock of COVID-19 and the Omicron situation in the state.
According to sources, the two Congress leaders held a detailed discussion over the possibility of a third wave of COVID-19 and its variant Omicron.
The Chief Minister assured the Congress interim chief that Chhattisgarh is fully prepared to deal with any such eventuality.
Chhattisgarh reported 279 Covid-19 new cases in the last 24 hours, as per the medical bulletin released on Saturday.
Meanwhile, India reported 27,553 new COVID-19 cases and 284 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.