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A Chinese state media commentator on Twitter said that testing imposed by India and Japan for passengers from China was ‘self-comfort’ and turning back to the ‘old method’ used during the earlier epidemic would not make a real difference. Meanwhile, India has successfully isolated the BF.7 strain, a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant, in a sample which is being studied to test the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, as per a report by Times of India.
India may see a surge in Covid-19 infections in January, as per officials citing the pattern of previous outbreaks on Wednesday. However, the severity of the wave would be less in case it happens, health ministry sources said.
“Previously, it has been noticed that a new wave of Covid-19 hits India around 30-35 days after it hits East Asia…. This has been a trend,” an official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Even if there is a wave, deaths and hospitalisation will be very low, officials added. 39 international passengers were found positive out of the 6,000 tested on arrival in the last two days, they said. The government has made random coronavirus testing mandatory for two per cent of passengers arriving in each international flight from Saturday.
Filling up of ‘air suvidha’ forms and 72-hour prior RT-PCR testing may be made mandatory from next week for international passengers coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, as per sources.
India logged 188 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday while the active cases increased to 3,468, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore.
In order to check preparedness to tackle any possible spike in Covid-19 cases, mock drills were held on Tuesday at health centres across the country, with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asking people to be vigil, reminding of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to be alert amid rising cases in several countries.
4th Covid Vaccine Dose Unwarranted Right Now, Increased Surveillance Needed
Several countries are administering a third and even fourth Covid booster shot but India, where many fully vaccinated individuals have not taken even one, is not there yet, say experts while stressing on the need for a structured and systematic response.
A fourth shot of a Covid preventive is unwarranted at the moment as most people in the country are yet to receive a third dose and there is no data available on the utility of a second booster for the currently used vaccines, they said. Besides, the situation in India where a large number of people have been exposed to the virus and also been vaccinated is quite different. “There is no reason to expect that the Chinese situation, which is specifically shaped by the zero-Covid policies that the country implemented for almost three years, will predict anything in India,” said Satyajit Rath, adjunct faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune.
US, Italy Impose Mandatory Covid Testing for Travellers from China
The United States and Italy announced mandatory Covid-19 testing for travellers from China as Beijing’s sudden abandonment of tough measures to contain the coronavirus — and surge in virus cases — caused jitters around the world, as per AFP.
Citing the need to protect Americans’ health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that from January 5, all air travellers originating in China will have to provide a new negative Covid test to airlines before they depart.
China, which is facing its biggest outbreak, has scrapped quarantine rules for foreign arrivals on Tuesday, which means that inbound travellers will no longer need to quarantine from January 8, a decision which China announced after three years of self-imposed global isolation under a Covid Zero policy that battered the economy and stoked historic public discontent. People arriving in China will only be required to obtain negative Covid test results within 48 hours of departure, a statement from the National Health Commission said.
The decision by China to discontinue its quarantine rule for foreign arrivals comes amid horrifying stories of Covid crisis leaking out of the country, with millions reportedly testing positive daily and hospitals overburdened with patients.
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