After the outbreak of the new Corona virus in China, India is preparing to prevent the spread of a new infection of Covid-19, which enters the country in a state of health emergency similar to what happened in the spring of last year.
On Thursday, Indian Health Minister Mansukh Mandavia told parliament that India would randomly start testing 2 percent of international travelers arriving at the country’s airports following asking regional authorities to send positive samples to laboratories monitoring new Covid strains.
The Indian minister advised residents to take precautions once morest COVID-19, including getting vaccinated and wearing masks, as the country remains on alert for new variants likely to emerge from the wave of infection sweeping through neighboring China.CNNnews.
“States have been asked to educate people (on the need) to wear masks, use hand sanitizers, maintain respiratory hygiene and social distancing,” Mandavia said.
Speaking Wednesday during a meeting to review the epidemic situation in the country amid increasing cases in many Asian countries, the Indian health minister said: “Covid is not over yet. I have directed those concerned to be on alert and strengthen surveillance.”
The Indian minister’s warnings come as China prepares for infections to spread from its largest city to its vast rural areas following backing away from its “zero Covid” strategy earlier this month.
In the spring of 2021, a second wave of coronavirus devastated India following the country was hit by the deadly “Delta” mutant that infected hundreds of thousands of people daily, killing tens of thousands and putting the health system on the brink of collapse.
And on Wednesday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed his concern regarding the rise in cases in China, stressing that he was concerned regarding “increasing reports of serious illness.”
“In order to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, WHO needs more detailed information on disease severity, hospitalizations and ICU support requirements,” Ghebreyesus told a news conference.
Since Beijing ended its strict health restrictions in early December, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has soared, raising fears of a high death rate among the elderly.
According to testimonies collected by Agence France-Presse, crematoriums are experiencing great pressure, without an official link to Covid.
An analysis published by “Bloomberg” agency suggests that China may currently witness regarding one million cases of coronavirus and five thousand deaths per day.
