Mandatoy Tests for Passengers from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 24: In addition to a random two per cent checking of passengers in all international flights coming to India, Centre has made mandatory checking of all passengers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand Saturday, the union health ministry announced on Saturday.
All travellers coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand will have to show a negative Covid certificate, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said. If they did not carry a negative certificate, the passengers from those countries would be put under quarantine if they showed symptoms, run fever or test positive in the mandatory RT-PCR tests,” Mandaviya said.
“After landing in India, they will undergo thermal screening and we have issued an order for them to be quarantined if found positive or with fever on their arrival in the country,” the minister said. Mandaviya was in the Gujarat capital to deliver a convocation address of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER).
“Yesterday, a Covid-19 advisory was issued. Through newspaper advertisements, people are being made aware. In Parliament, I made a statement in which I urged people to mandatorily use masks, maintain social distancing and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour so that in future, India can be saved from the new BF.7 variant of the virus,” he said.
Mandaviya also said filling up of the ‘Air Suvidha’ form to declare the health status will be made mandatory for passengers coming from these countries. The Union health ministry has already asked the civil aviation ministry to ensure random post-arrival Covid testing at airports of two percent of the passengers arriving in India in each international flight from Saturday to minimise the risk of ingress of any new variant of the coronavirus in the country.
With China and some other countries witnessing a surge in Covid cases, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cautioned against complacency, called for a strict vigil and directed that the ongoing surveillance measures, especially at the international airports, be strengthened.
The Health Ministry has given a fresh six-point advisory to the states to face any Covid emergency amid rising cases in neighbouring China. India has reported a handful of the BF.7 strain that’s running amok in China.
Oxygen shortage was initially a big problem during the initial days of the second wave in India in mid-2021. “Though Covid cases in the country are low and not surging as of now, but to face any challenges arising in future, the operationalisation and maintenance of these medical infrastructure is utmost importance,” the Health Ministry’s Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said in a letter to the states.
The government’s latest advisory on medical oxygen management says Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) plants are to be kept fully functional and regular mock drills should be done to check them. PSA is a process by which ambient air passes through an internal filtration system to separate nitrogen from the air, concentrating the remaining oxygen to a known purity.
The availability of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in health facilities and uninterrupted supply chain for their refilling should be ensured, the government said in the letter. Adequate inventory of oxygen cylinders along with backup stocks and robust refilling system should be maintained, it said.
India has so far stepped up genome sequencing of Covid cases in view of the sudden spurt in cases in China and elsewhere. Cases are soaring across China, with crematoriums and hospitals struggling to cope in the wake of the government’s sudden decision to lift years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing.
The United States has warned the outbreak is now of concern to the rest of the world, given the potential for further virus mutations and the size of China. India, which suffered badly at the height of the pandemic, has not so far reported any significant rise in cases.
