COVID-19 scare: Dr Mansukh Mandaviya to hold meeting with state health ministers at 3 pm 

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a meeting with state health ministers to review the COVID-19 situation and preparedness at 3 pm on Friday. He also made a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha on India’s preparedness vis-a-vis COVID-19. 

The Union Minister informed the Rajya Sabha, “We are constantly monitoring the situation. There are no direct flights between China and India but people come via other routes.” Mandaviya added that the government’s focus is to ensure that no unknown variant of COVID-19 enters India and that there is no restriction on travelling at the same time. 

The Union Health Ministry also issued new guidelines for international travel on Thursday. According to these guidelines, all travellers should be fully vaccinated and thermal screening of all passengers should be done at the airports’ entry points upon arrival. 

Any passenger found to be symptomatic upon thermal screening shall be isolated and taken to a nearby medical facility immediately. These guidelines will come into effect from Friday. 

These guidelines also state that post-arrival random testing of two per cent of passengers arriving on each international flight shall be conducted to avoid the entry of a new variant. Children below the age of 12 years are exempt from post-arrival random testing. 

Also read: Covid scare: India revises travel guidelines for international arrivals from Dec 24

Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on the COVID-19 situation in the country, the preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, the status of the vaccination campaign, and the emergence of new coronavirus variants. During this meeting, the Prime Minister stated, “COVID is not over yet.” 

The Prime Minister urged people to wear masks in crowded places and take the booster dose, especially for the vulnerable and elderly groups in the wake of the upcoming holiday season. 

Also read: New COVID Variant BF.7 Found In India: IMA Issues Advisory

He also directed officials to strengthen surveillance at international airports besides upping genome sequencing. PM Modi urged states to audit COVID-19-specific facilities such as hospital infrastructure including oxygen cylinders, PSA plants, ventilators, and human resources. He also advised the authorities concerned to regularly monitor the availability and pricing of essential medicines. 

“States have been asked to share a larger number of samples with the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) for genome sequencing on a daily basis. This will support timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and facilitate undertaking requisite public health measures,” the PMO release said. 

Also read: PM's Covid meet: PM Modi stresses on wearing masks, increased testing, focus on genome sequencing

Coronavirus cases have risen steadily in countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and the US. Reports from China show that hospitalisations and deaths due to coronavirus are rising at an unprecedented pace.  

These reports further indicate that the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in the world’s second-largest economy can be attributed to a failure to vaccinate the elderly, excessive focus on eliminating the virus, and the failure to communicate a zero COVID exit strategy to the public. 

Experts are also of the view that the zero COVID policy had a disastrous impact on the Chinese healthcare system. A researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle Hong Xiao told the news agency Reuters that the policy proved costly and dangerous to public health since funds and medical staff were diverted to the pandemic hotbed and patients with other conditions were deprived of treatment. 

A senior doctor at a public hospital in Beijing said, “Up to 80 per cent of doctors in top hospitals in Beijing are infected with the virus but forced to keep working.”

Also read: China lacked a 'zero COVID' exit plan. Its people are paying the price

Also read: COVID-19 scare: Do we need another vaccine dose? How will India be affected? Dr Randeep Guleria answers