Mansukh Mandaviya chairs Covid meet with state health ministers

The Ministry of Health released an advisory for International passengers in which they will have to undergo mandatory testing on arrival.

New Delhi, Dec 23: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a meeting with health ministers of states and Union territories on the COVID-19 situation and preparedness today.

Amid the rising fear over surge in COVID-19 cases globally, the Union Ministry of Health issued a fresh precautionary advisory for travellers in efforts to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

Elaborating on the effectiveness of genome sequencing, the advisory said, "In view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network."

"Such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate the undertaking of requisite public health measures for the same," the advisory added.

Mandaviya made a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday on India's preparedness. "We are constantly monitoring the situation. There are no direct flights between China and India but people come via other routes," he said.

He said the focus is to ensure that no unknown variant of the virus enters India and at the same time there is no impediment to travelling.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned against complacency, called for strict vigil and directed that the ongoing surveillance measures, especially at international airports, be strengthened. "Covid is not over yet," Modi reiterated at a high-level Covid review meeting and urged people to wear masks in crowded places.

The Union Health Ministry asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to ensure random post-arrival Covid testing of two per cent of arriving passengers in each international flight at airports from December 24, to minimize the risk of ingress of any new variant of coronavirus in the country.