Kochi, Dec 22: The Indian Medical Association Kerala chapter has warned against spreading unnecessary apprehensions about the new wave of Covid-19.

“Since Covid is certain to have a long-term presence in different parts of the world, it wouldn’t be in the interest of the people to spread unnecessary apprehensions about the diseases,” the IMA-Kerala said in a statement today.

“There is a need to strongly conduct and pursue genomic sequencing of new variants as in the case of other diseases,” said the IMA-Kerala.

“Such tests should also be conducted in Kerala also. The health workers, symptomatic people, those spending time with strangers for long duration inside closed rooms should use masks,” the advisory says.

The IMA said that since the Omicron variant is now spreading in certain countries, the present phase is unlikely to turn grave. It also brushed aside the canards spread in social media regarding the variants and their spread.

“The reality is that we have to co-exist with Covid for a long time to come,” it said and added that IMA will be vigilant regarding outbreaks of new variants and will continue to have the facilities to analyze them to inform people at the right time.