- Mask up and avoid crowded places, tells Mansukh Mandaviya
- Centre writes to all States on Oxygen availability
- Virus Fast but not Furious, India will not become 2nd China, say experts
- Enquiries rise for vaccine booster dose across India
IndiGlobal Bureau
In a significant development, the Indian government has decided to do Covid-19 testing for all passengers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stated today that RT-PCR tests would be done for international passengers coming from a few Asian countries and those who test positive would be quarantined as per protocols.
He further called upon people to wear masks, avoid crowded places and follow covid appropriate behaviour. GMR Airport, Hyderabad has started random testing of passengers coming from abroad to the airport from today. Samples are being collected from 2 percent of international passengers for this purpose at all airports in the country from today.
Meanwhile, the Centre has reached out to all States and UTs to ensure availability of oxygen, adequate inventory of oxygen cylinders and functional life support equipment such as ventilators at hospitals to face any challenge. Dr Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stressed on timely preparation and responsiveness to meet the Covid-19 challenge in his letter.
Virus Fast but not Furious
Meanwhile, medical experts and IIT researchers have tried to allay fears of the general public saying that India will not become a second China and also that BF.7 virus is found to be fast (spreading) but not furious (deadly). India will not suffer like China as 98 percent of the population have natural immunity against the virus already.
Enquiries grow for booster dose
With massive surge of Covid cases in neighboring China, people are found to be enquiring about booster doses details in various Indian cities from the last couple of days. Vaccine counters that were lying empty for several months have started seeing increased footfalls now. In some hospitals in New Delhi, 50 booster shots were given on Friday as against 6 to 9 boosters per day which was the norm for a long time.
People were also seeking details about the nasal vaccine, which was given emergency nod recently by the Indian government and it will soon be included in the CoWin platform. India so far has administered over 22 crore booster doses and 220 crore vaccination doses overall including the first dose, a second dose and a booster shot.
