Covid-19 Live Updates: India Gears Up Amid Rise of New Variant BF.7

The CEO of Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla on Sunday said that Covid situation in India is better than anywhere else.

While attending an inauguration ceremony of Bharti Super Speciality Hospital in Pune, he lauded India’s fight against Covid pandemic. He said that the government and healthcare workers have largely contributed in tackling the pandemic in the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said that the data submitted by China shows Omicron subvariants BA.5.2 and BF.7 are predominant that are accounting for 97.5 per cent of all local infections.

The China CDC analysis showed a predominance of Omicron BA.5.2 and its sublineages, including BF.7, among locally acquired #COVID19 infections.

📌 https://t.co/ZyRgrhaTRk pic.twitter.com/gnKAT4hpiH

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 4, 2023

The Union ministry of health and family welfare informed that the country recorded 265 new cases of the Covid-19 virus. India also recorded 1,209 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate stood at 98.8 per cent. The active caseload stood at 2,706 with a daily positivity rate of 0.17 per cent. So far, 220.10 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine including the primary, secondary and the booster doses have been administered in the country.

At least 53 international travellers have tested positive for Covid-19 during random sampling at airports across the nation. This amounts to only 0.94 percent of the total samples collected so far.

RT-PCR test made mandatory for flyers coming from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand from 1st January 2023. They will have to upload their reports on the Air Suvidha portal before travel: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

RT-PCR test made mandatory for flyers coming from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand from 1st January 2023. They will have to upload their reports on the Air Suvidha portal before travel: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya pic.twitter.com/I76Tbl3pNR

— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2022

A tourist from Argentina tested positive for Covid-19 last Monday while visiting Taj Mahal. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Agra Dr Arun Kumar Srivastava informed on Wednesday that he is now untraceable.

Two international passengers were found Covid positive during random sampling at the Mumbai International airport, the Maharashtra Health department informed on Wednesday.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu directed the health department officials to keep a strict vigil on the number of COVID cases in the State.

The Health Ministry sources on Wednesday said that the next 40 days will be crucial as India may see a surge in Covid-19 cases in mid-January. The assessment was made based on previous trends of Covid surge the country witnessed.

Air India Express has issued guidelines for the maintenance of covid appropriate behaviour by passengers travelling from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to India.

As random testing of international passengers upon arrival in India began, as many as 39 traverllers have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last three days.

The state government in Sikkim on Tuesday issued an advisory making it mandatory to wear face masks in public places amid a sudden spurt in Covid-19 cases worldwide and increased concern from the Central government.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday to review the mock drill being undertaken for ensuring readiness of hospital infrastructure for Covid-19 management.

The Centre approved the cost of Bharat Biotech's nasal Covid-19 vaccine iNCOVACC, which will be used as a booster dose for those above 18 years, at Rs 800 for private hospitals and Rs 325 for the government ones. The vaccine iNCOVACC will be rolled out in the fourth week of January.

The Gauhati Medical College and Hospital conducted mock drill to check covid preparedness in Guwahati along with rest of the country.

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya visited Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Tuesday to oversee the Mock Drill conducted to ensure the readiness of the hospital infrastructure for COVID-19 management.

#UniteToFightCovid

Union Health Minister Dr @mansukhmandviya visited Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi @SJHDELHI to oversee the Mock Drill conducted to ensure readiness of hospital infrastructure for #COVID19 management.

Such Mock Drills are being conducted across the country today. pic.twitter.com/gMpvIt8QkH

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 27, 2022

Amid surge in Covid-19 cases, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya virtually interacted with over 100 doctors and members of Indian Medical Association (IMA) and asked them to provide accurate information to citizens on the pandemic and refrain from spreading unverified information.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that the state government is prepared for any situation amid a spurt in Covid-19 cases in China.

A man was found COVID-19 positive at Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Agra Dr Arun Kumar Srivastava said that he had recently returned from China.

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Sunday that India has reported 227 fresh COVID case in the last 24 hours.

In light of the rise in Covid-19 cases, random testing of international passengers began at Delhi Airport. As many as 110 international passengers were tested on Day 1.

China's National Health Commission (NHC), which used to issue the country's Covid-19 case figures on a daily basis, has stopped publishing the update starting Sunday.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) directed all the states and union territories of the country on Saturday to ensure a functional and regular supply of medical oxygen for the pandemic management.

Random Covid-19 testing of passengers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Japan and South Korea have started at the Delhi International airport on Saturday.

Covid-19 RT-PCR testing facility will be available free of cost for international passengers who will be randomly selected by the airlines at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, while chairing a virtual meeting with the health ministers of the states on Friday stressed on combating the Covid-19 pandemic with a pre-emptive and proactive approach by increasing testing, genome sequencing and following covid-appropriate behaviour.

A mock drill will be conducted across hospitals around the country in order to check the emergency preparedness to fight any surge in Covid-19 cases. The Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya will take part in the drill.

The Indian Army has issued an advisory to its personnel to take precautionary measures such as using face masks and practising social distancing.

Highlighting the vaccination drive of the Central government, Union minsiter Jyotiraditya Scindia informed that till Monday, as many as 220 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered across the nation.

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a virtual meeting with State health ministers on the Covid-19 situation and preparedness at 3 pm today.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday issued revised guidelines for international arrivals amid surge in sub variant BF.7 Omicron in China which will come into effect from December 24.

The high-level meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded. He asked the states and the union territories to take action and precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the sub-variant.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday reacted to a fake message circulating over internet about the COVID XBB Variant. MoHFW took to Twitter to debunk a particular message about the COVID XBB variant.

#FakeNews

This message is circulating in some Whatsapp groups regarding XBB variant of #COVID19.

The message is #FAKE and #MISLEADING. pic.twitter.com/LAgnaZjCCi

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 22, 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a virtual meeting where he urged everyone to follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated against the virus.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) appealed to the public to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, including face masks, social distancing,  regular handwashing with soap and water or sanitizers, with immediate effect in order to contain the further spread of the virus after China registered an unprecedented daily spike of infections.

PM Modi has called a high-level meeting amid surge of new covid sub-variant BF.7 Omicron which is reportedly driving the current surge of infections in China.