Travellers arriving in India from countries must show a COVID-19 negative report to enter the country, including China.
As per the new guidelines and statement of federal health minister Mansuk Mandaviya, it has been made mandatory to show a COVID-19 negative certificate arriving from China, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. Moreover, a traveller from the listed countries would also be put in quarantine centres if they show symptoms.
In addition, India has witnessed the second-largest number of confirmed cases globally, around 44 million people, just behind the US. The testing procedure has started testing 2% of the airport-arriving passengers.
The federal health minister further cited in the parliament on Thursday that cases are increasing in neighbouring China for the new rules.
The current surge in cases in China is caused by the BF.7 and the Omicron subvarient. According to local media reports, the same variant has also been found in India.
What Federal Minister Urge the Government?
Mansuk Mandaviya has urged the government to increase surveillance for any such cases and on the new variant. Moreover, he added that the positive case samples must be sent to the laboratories for genome sequencing.
India relaxed the mask-wearing rules in early 2022 after the caseload started dropping rapidly. According to the data provided by the health ministry, 3,400 is the current number of active cases in India.
Government’s Plan for Foreign Travel
Mansuk Mandaviya stated that the Government of India had yet to make plans to halt flight and foreign travels where a new variant has been reported.
On Thursday, the Indian Medical Association also urged the citizens to wear masks in all public places and to get the booster dose. They also urged the civilians to avoid public gatherings such as social and political meetings, weddings and international travel.
Vaccine Doses in India
India has nearly 1.4 billion individuals and has administered around 2.2 billion vaccine doses. However, only 27% of the population has received the third dose, also known as the booster dose.
