Covid Outbreak: Airport screening, RT-PCR Must For Travel

Covid outbreak: India is ramping up its Covid-19 precautions. RT-PCR, negative test reports mandatory for passengers arriving from countries with high coronavirus caseloads, the health minister has announced. The announcement came as the minister met with his state counterparts to discuss the country’s readiness with Covid-19 caseloads rising round the world.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the government will identify countries with high caseloads during the coming week. “People from there who come to India will have to upload their (COVID-19) RT-PCR reports and only then come.” They will also have to undergo thermal screening after landing, he added.

Guidelines for international arrivals at airports, seaports, and land borders have already been updated by the health ministry as of Saturday.

Every traveler must have the full course of Covid-19 vaccinations according to their country’s schedule. The health minister announced that thermal checks will also be done upon landing, and anyone exhibiting any symptoms would be isolated and treated separately.

Rising cases around the world

Covid outbreak: United States has reported more than 15 lakh cases in the past 28 days. In the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said that highly contagious Omicron subvariant jumped to 18% of national prevalence.

Germany has been registering more than 40 thousand cases since the past few days.

France has also reported more than 10 lakh cases in the past 28 days, and is one of the countries where COVID cases are shooting up with every passing day.

Japan is registering more than 2 lakh new cases everyday, marking the first time that the single-day number has surpassed the 2 lakh mark since 25 August 2022. It recently reported by the health authorities of the country.

South Korea logged more than 68 thousand cases on 23 December 24, 2022, including 95 cases from overseas. If reports are to go by, today’s count is up by about 1200 cases from a week ago. Reportedly, the daily cases have been registering a steady growth for the past several weeks amid a winter wave.

Also read: China Covid: 37 Million People Infected In A Day!

Covid outbreak: Doctors say there’s no reason to hit the panic button amid worries about another tsunami of Covid-19 spreading out into the world from China but there are grounds for taking precautions against the virus.