New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the situation related to Covid and related aspects in the country at a high-level meeting on Thursday, news agency ANI reported.
This comes as several state governments are holding review meetings to gauge the situation amid growing concerns over the Coronavirus spread in China.
Four cases of the Omicron subvariant BF.7, the strain behind China’s current surge of Covid cases, have been detected in India — two in Gujarat and two in Odisha. In Gujarat, both the patients, who had foreign travel history, have recovered, news agency PTI reported.
Covid-19 is not over yet, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday as the government sounded an alert following a surge of coronavirus cases in neighbouring China and other countries.
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Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a Covid review meeting with experts and senior officials, asserting the need for continued surveillance. “Covid is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation,” the minister said.
The government said random sample testing would be conducted at airports for passengers arriving from China and other countries.
People have been advised to wear masks in crowded places and the government appealed to citizens to get booster doses. It also advised the elderly and those with comorbidities to take precautions.
The government has instructed states to ensure genome sequencing of all positive cases in the country. States have been asked to send Covid samples of all positive patients to labs run by INSACOG, a forum under the Health Ministry that studies and monitors various strains of coronavirus.
The new Omicron subvariant BF.7 is known to spread very fast and has a shorter incubation period.