Govt eases norms for Covid positive foreign arrivals

Travellers arriving in India from any country who will test positive for Covid-19 shall be treated/isolated as per the laid down standard protocol and will not mandatorily be managed at an isolation facility, reports Asian Lite News

Travellers arriving in India from any country who will test positive for Covid-19 shall be treated/isolated as per the laid down standard protocol and will not mandatorily be managed at an isolation facility, authorities have said.

According to the revised ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’ released on Thursday, the new norm will apply from January 22 till further order, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

The rest of the provisions have remained the same in the revised guidelines.

The existing guidelines state that travellers coming from any country including from those considered ‘at-risk’ shall be managed at isolation facility and treated as per laid down standard protocol.

The revised guidelines removed the clause that mandated staying at “isolation facility” upon arrival.

Passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility as per health protocol.

If tested positive, their contacts shall be identified and managed as per protocol.

Foreign arrivals who test positive will still have to undergo home quarantine for seven days even after they test negative and undertake RT-PCR test on the 8th day of arrival in India.

Steep hike in cases

Meanwhile, in a steep hike, India reported 3.47 lakh Covid-19 cases and 703 fatalities in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday.

The daily cases registered a rise of around 9 per cent from the previous day.

With the fresh fatalities, the death toll climbed to 4,88,396.

Meanwhile, the active caseload has jumped to 20,18,825 which constitute 5.23 per cent of the country’s total cases.

The Omicron infection tally has risen to 9,692 across the nation, an increase of 4.36 per cent from the previous day.

The recovery of 2,51,777 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,60,58,806. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 93.50 per cent.

Also in the same period, a total of 19,35,912 tests were conducted across the country, taking the cumulative number to over 71.15 crore.

Though the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 16.56 per cent amid sudden spike in the cases, the daily positivity rate has declined to 17.94 per cent.

With the administration of over 70 lakh vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the country’s Covid inoculation coverage has reached 160.43 crore as of Friday morning.

More than 12.73 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs , the Ministry added

Delhi may withdraw few curbs

The Delhi government is likely to withdraw the weekend curfew and an odd-even system of opening shops as the Covid-19 positivity rate in the national capital has registered a dip, according to an official.

However, private offices will continue to operate with 50 per cent capacity until further orders, the Delhi government official said.

The weekend curfew in the national capital came into force on January 7 as 17,335 fresh Covid cases were reported in the city, which was the highest in the last eight months, with the positivity rate increasing to a sharp 17.73 per cent.

The curfew announced by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), depend on the severity of the infection rate, which is decided under the Graded Action Response Plan (GRAP).

Under GRAP, it is decided as to which activities would be allowed under what circumstances in case of a surge in Covid-19 cases.

There are four levels of colour-coded alerts namely, yellow, amber, orange and red.

Delhi has been under level 1 or yellow alert restrictions since December 28, 2021.

On Thursday, Delhi’s witnessed a dip in the number of single-day cases after as many as 12,306 people tested positive for Covid-19, according to the health bulletin data.

On Wednesday, a total of 13,785 Covid-19 cases were logged in the national capital.

The cumulative caseload of Delhi currently stands at 17,60,272.

The case positivity rate of the national capital reduced to 21.48 per cent on Thursday from 23.86 per cent on the preceding day.

‘Vaccination for under 15 not now’

The Covid vaccination drive for the 12 to 14 years age group will start only after more scientific data evolves, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Thursday.

“As scientific evidence evolves, we will be expanding the coverage of vaccination to this age group. We will take decision on the basis of scientific data in this regard,” he said while addressing the media on the current Covid surge in India.

NITI Aayog’s Member, Health, Dr V.K. Paul said that vaccinating this age bracket is an important objective. “We will take decision on this when we will have compete scientific evidence,” he said.

About the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drug Standard and Control Organisation (CDSCO) recommendation to provide market approval for two vaccines Covishield and Covaxin, Bhushan said that the recommendation has been made to the national regulator, the Drug Controller General of India, but, it is yet to take the final decision.

He said that of the frontline workers who were due for their precautionary dose, 58 per cent of them have received it, and of the healthcare workers who were due, 63 per cent of them have received the vaccine as on January 20. “Out of total around 80 lakh due for precaution dose among 60 plus age group as on January 20, total 18,66,000 have received their dose which is around 39 per cent,” he added.

Bhushan also said that 52 per cent children in 15-18 age group in the country have been vaccinated so far.

On active cases, he said Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, UP, Gujarat, Odisha, Delhi, and Rajasthan are among the top 10 states, and of them, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are among the ‘States of Concern’ and the situation is being reviewed continuously.

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