Covid BF.7 sub-variant scare: India cautious amid spike in Covid-19 cases in China- Top 10 points

As the threat of Covid-19 looms over India, Karnataka made wearing of face masks mandatory in indoor locations.

Image credit: ANI

New Delhi:  India is gearing up its preparations to handle the Covid-19 situation amid the rise in coronavirus cases in China. A surge of coronavirus cases has been sweeping across China since the government eased its strict lockdowns and measures to contain the spread of the virus, on December 7. It has been reported that the rising Covid cases in China are mainly due to the BF.7 strain of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, which has been detected in India too. Tough India has not reported any recent cases of BF.7 strains of Omicron however in the wake of the looming threat of Covid-19 PM Modi on Thursday (December 22) chaired a high-level meeting to assess the Covid-19 situation in the country. Here are the top 10 points on India's Covid-19 situation

1. PM Modi in the high-level meeting stressed ramping up testing, genome sequencing and ensuring the operational readiness of COVID infrastructure. 
2. India is also testing 2 per cent of international passengers randomly at airports, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Parliament on Thursday.
3. According to Mandaviya, there are no direct flights from China to India and the government is taking all possible precautions to manage the spread of infection in the country.
4. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the new Omicron sub-variant BF.7 of the coronavirus that is causing a surge in cases in many countries has not been detected in Delhi so far and added his government is fully geared up to tackle any eventuality.
5. In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sought to step up testing and genome sequencing. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also urged people not to panic.
6. The Tamil Nadu health department has issued an alert to all the District Medical Officers (DMOs) against the reported Omicron variant BF.7 and the increase in Covid positive cases in several countries. The State Public Health Department has already sent a letter to the Union Health Ministry for mandatorily testing international passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong.
7. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai called on the public to take the booster dose of the vaccine amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world and cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7 found in the country.
8. India logged 185 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,402, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
9. The Karnataka government on Thursday decided to conduct mandatory testing of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) in the state amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world, including China.
10. The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday said it is ready to handle any eventuality in view of the sudden spurt of Covid cases in certain countries, as the State has sufficient manpower, beds, drugs and oxygen.