During media brief on December 17, Director General of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava spoke on anti-viral Covid-19 pills and said, “We have been discussing these anti-viral Covid-19 pills. We have found that these pills need to be given very early, even before the diagnosis of the disease. Scientific data has still not supported in a big way that the pills will be useful at the moment.” On the emergence of Omicron variant of Covid-19, he said, “This is the time to avoid non-essential travel, mass gatherings and it is very important to observe low-intensity festivities.”