Three Cases Of Subvariant Same As China Found In India; Center Issues Advisory

In a new advisory issued on Wednesday (21 December), the Union Health Ministry has advised people to follow COVID appropriate behaviour and wear masks.

The government might resume random testing of international passengers on arrival, which was stopped in November. Earlier, 2 per cent of international passengers were being randomly tested at airports.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also directed officials to "fully gear up and strengthen surveillance," following the meeting held yesterday.

Earlier it was reported that three cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7, which is driving the recent surge in cases in China, have been detected in India so far - two cases have been reported from Gujarat and one from Odisha.

A senior official said "The cases were detected a while back and have not spread so far."

Dr Sanjay Rai, Senior Epidemiologist, AIIMS Delhi has said that it is unlikely that we will face any serious problems due to the current virus scenario.

"In India we have sufficient evidence to prove that those who recovered from Covid are best protected," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also set to hold a high level meeting this afternoon.

China is currently seeing a huge upsurge in cases since it has reversed the "Zero Covid" policy, and is expected to see 1.6 million fatalities as per projections throughout 2023.