new Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday asked the public not to panic after a few more cases of Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 were detected in the country. The Health Minister cautioned the people to be vigilant and follow the instructions issued by the government from time to time.
He further said that Covid-19 variants will keep coming but the important thing is which variant will react and people should believe only information shared by government sources to avoid any kind of panic in the country. The Health Minister said that the government is alert and is making full preparations.
11 COVID-19 Omicron sub-variants detected in India
Official sources have said that so far eleven types of COVID-19 Omicron sub-variants have been detected during the testing of international passengers at airports and seaports between December 24 and January 3. A total of 19,227 samples of international passengers were tested, out of which 124 were found positive and have been put under isolation, sources said.
According to official sources, “Genome sequencing results of 40 out of 124 positive samples were received, with XBB.1 detected in maximum 14 samples including XBB.1. One sample detected BF 7.4.1.”
Other variants reported after sampling these international travelers are BA.5.2, BQ.1.1, BQ. 1.1(22), BQ.1.1.5, CH.1.1, CH.1.1.1, BB.3, BN.1.2, BN1.3, BY1 and BF. country.
Marginal rise in Covid cases
India witnessed a marginal increase in COVID infections on Thursday as it saw 188 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). 175 new cases were registered in the country on Wednesday.
As per MoHFW, India’s active case load currently stands at 2,554 with an active case rate of 0.01 per cent. The country’s recovery rate also stood at 98.8 per cent as it witnessed 201 recoveries in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 4,41,46,055.
The health ministry further said that the country’s daily positivity rate and weekly positivity rate are 0.10 and 0.12 per cent respectively. Under the nationwide vaccination drive against COVID-19, the Health Ministry said that a total of 220.12 crore vaccine doses (95.13 crore second dose and 22.42 crore precautionary doses) have been administered so far, of which 61,828 doses were given in the last 24 months. hours.
It also said that a total of 1,93,051 Covid tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with which the number of Covid tests conducted in the country rose to 91.15 crore. As there have been reports of increase in Covid cases in some countries, the operational readiness of health facilities in all States and Union Territories is being reviewed in case of another wave.
BF.7 version China is behind the COVID surge
There has been a recent surge in Covid cases across the world, as the BF.7 variant is believed to be the major factor behind the surge in countries such as China and the US.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in an official statement that looking at the data presented by China, the Omicron subvariants BA.5.2 and BF.7 are dominant, accounting for 97.5 percent of all local infections. closely monitor the situation in the People’s Republic of China and globally and urge all countries to be vigilant, monitor and report sequences, as well as conduct an independent and comparative analysis of different Omicron sublineages, including severity. disease caused by them.
Mandatory pre-departure RT-PCR testing has now been introduced for passengers arriving in India on all international flights from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Japan. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in a press release dated January 2, 2023, said that the test should be done within 72 hours before starting the journey.
The ministry release issued by Lav Agarwal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said that the ministry has decided to revise and update its existing guidelines for international arrivals in view of the rising COVID cases in the above-mentioned countries.
It said the Air Suvidha portal of the Ministry of Civil Aviation is to be made operational for passengers on all international flights from these countries, with a provision to allow international passengers arriving in India to submit negative RT-PCR test reports. Submit the self-declaration form on this portal.