RT-PCR reports mandatory for Arrivals from countries with a high caseload

New Delhi: The Indian Health Ministry announced on Saturday that travellers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand will be required to show the results of RT-PCR tests. This is because Covid-19 cases are on the rise globally due to the BF.7 variant.

Mansukh Mandaviya, the union minister of health, announced that visitors from nations with heavy caseloads would need to upload their test results to the Air Suvidha platform starting the following week. The government is identifying these nations and will release a list in a week.

Any traveller from these nations who exhibits symptoms upon arrival or tests positive for Covid19 will be placed under quarantine, Dr. Mandaviya, Union Health Minister, stated on Saturday.

Starting on Saturday, a random sample of 2% of international travellers will be taken.

According to past experience, a Covid-19 wave typically takes 20 to 35 days to reach South Asia, according to the health minister. It starts in China, Japan, and South Korea, then travels to the US and Europe, then South America, before finally arriving in South Asia.

Data from the health ministry show that between December 15 and 21, there were an average of 576,583 cases reported worldwide. India had 153 average daily cases, while Japan had 154,000, South Korea had 67,238, the US had 65,821, Germany had 32,534, Italy had 24,947, and Hong Kong had 15,985. The weekly positivity rate for India for the week ending December 22 was 0.14%.

States have also been urged to conduct mock drills at all medical facilities to ensure that Covid facilities are operationally ready, with a focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics, human resources, and improved surveillance.