China Archives - Page 5 of 12 - Lokmarg

China: Amid Rise In COVID Cases, Hospitals Cancel New Year Holiday

By LokMarg 1st January 2023

As COVID-19 cases in China continue to rise, hospitals in many cities have started working overtime during New Year’s day to fight against the epidemic, Global Times reported.

All employees of the Third Municipal Hospital of Qinhuangdao in China’s Hebei province cancelled their vacations during the New Year’s day holidays in 2023 to address the needs of patients undergoing medical treatment, Global Times reported citing a notice released on the WeChat account of the hospital on Thursday.
Hospitals in Chinese provinces, including Shanxi, Hebei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, and Heilongjiang issued a similar notice, as per the news report. Employees in local hospitals have been working overtime during the holidays to ensure the treatment of patients amid the epidemic wave as part of the overall coordination of the epidemic prevention and control departments to optimize epidemic prevention policies and ensure scientific treatment, according to Global Times.

Districts in Shanghai, including Jiading, Minhang, and Songjiang have improved their management measures for graded treatment to divert non-urgent COVID patients from top-tier hospitals as infections and critical cases peaked in recent days.

In order to address the peak of the epidemic that is expected to come during the New Year holidays, China’s Zhejiang province has given six tasks to local medical institutions, including improving the service capacity of fever clinics, improving service accessibility convenience and improving the ability to conduct treatment of local patients, according to Global Times.

Speaking at a briefing on the latest epidemic response on Tuesday, Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under the National Health Commission (NHC), stressed that more precise and scientific prevention and control must be taken as the time of the peak of the epidemic will vary in different regions of China.

Liang Wannian stated that the treatment of severe cases, and ensuring daily medical needs should be kept at an important spot while the prevention and control and treatment capacity building in rural areas should be placed in a more prominent position, as per the news report.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on December 28 announced that the US will require a negative COVID-19 test from all travellers arriving in the country from China as well as those from Hong Kong and Macau.

“CDC is announcing today that it will implement a requirement for a negative COVID-19 test or documentation of recovery for air passengers boarding flights to the United States originating from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau,” the CDC said in a statement released on its website.

“CDC is announcing this step to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the United States during the surge in COVID-19 cases in the PRC given the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data being reported from the PRC, it added. (ANI)

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China Facing Tough Challenges Due To COVID-19: Xi

By LokMarg 1st January 2023

China is facing “tough challenges” as it enters “a new phase” in its COVID-19 response, President Xi Jinping said in his annual new year’s address on Saturday

“We have now entered a new phase of COVID response where tough challenges remain,” Xi said in his new year message to the nation.
Calling the process of Covid responses “tough challenges,” Xi said that with extraordinary efforts, China has prevailed over unprecedented difficulties and challenges.

“In 2022, we successfully convened the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). An ambitious blueprint has been drawn for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, sounding a clarion call of the times for us forging ahead on a new journey,” he said.

Talking about the Chinese economy, China’s President said that the country’s finance has remained the second largest in the world and enjoyed sound development, according to the statement.

He also said that the GDP is expected to exceed 120 trillion yuan for the whole year. Despite a global food crisis, China has secured a bumper harvest for the 19th year in a row, putting the country in a stronger position to ensure the food supply of the Chinese people.

“We have consolidated our gains in poverty elimination and advanced rural revitalization across the board. We have introduced tax and fee cuts and other measures to ease the burden on businesses, and made active efforts to solve the most pressing difficulties of deep concern to the people,” Xi said.

Recalling Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who passed away in November, Xi said that he paid high tribute to his towering achievements and noble demeanour, the statement reads.

“Today’s China is a country where dreams become a reality. The Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games concluded with a resounding success. Chinese winter sports athletes gave their all and achieved extraordinary results. Shenzhou-13, Shenzhou-14, and Shenzhou-15 soared into the heavens. China’s space station was fully completed and our “home in space” is roving in the deep-blue sky,” Xi said.

He further added, ” The people’s armed forces marked the 95th birthday and all service members are marching confidently on the great journey of building a strong military. China’s third aircraft carrier Fujian was launched. C919, China’s first large passenger aircraft, was delivered. And the Baihetan hydropower station went into full operation… None of these achievements would have been possible without the sweat and toil of numerous Chinese people. Sparks of talent are coming together, and they are the strength of China!” (ANI)

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China’s Efforts To Destroy Buddhism Won’t Succeed: Dalai Lama

By LokMarg 1st January 2023

In a sharp attack on China’s moves to eliminate Buddhism, the Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama has said China is attempting to target and destroy Buddhism but it won’t succeed.

Speaking on the third and last day teaching program at Kalachakra Maidan in Bodh Gaya on Saturday, the Tibetan spiritual leader accused China of considering Buddhism poisonous and of carrying out a systematic campaign to destroy and weed it out from China, by destroying its institutions, but it has totally failed in doing so.
At the Bodh Gaya event Dalai Lama said, “We have strong faith in Buddha dharma, when I visit trans-Himalayan regions, I find local people very devoted to dharma and it is the case in Mongolia and in China too though the system (Chinese government) sees dharma as poison and tried to destroy it, they are not successful. Buddhism was harmed by the Chinese government. Buddhism could not be destroyed by China. Even today, there are many people who believe in Buddhism in China.”

Dalai Lama said that the Chinese government destroyed many Buddhist Viharas, but the number of followers of Buddhism has not decreased in China.

He said that many Buddhist monasteries still exist in China and people there have a deep connection with Buddhism.

“Those who are showing faith in me as well as faith in Buddhism must accept the Bodhicitta (spiritual awakening) that I am imparting. Be it Tibetan or Mongolian or China, there are many Buddhist monasteries in China. I have been to China many times. Many Buddha Viharas exist there even today. People have Buddhism and Buddha in their minds. There is a lot of attachment towards Buddhism. The Chinese have an ancient relationship with Buddhism,” he said.

He asked to practice Bodhicitta for the benefit of self or others.

“If we look at Tibetan tradition also, Shakyas practice Bodhicitta in Nigama, Bodhicitta keeps the mind and body long and gives longevity. This also gives good sleep. Looking at the welfare of all, nothing can be better than this. Through the practice of Bodhicitta, the evils and sorrows within can be removed,” Dalai Lama said.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu also attended a teaching program by Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at Kalachakra Maidan in Bodh Gaya on Saturday.

More than 80,000 Buddhist devotees heard the discourse by the Dalai Lama.

A group of high-ranking Sri Lankan Buddhist Monks, who were on a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya recently, sought his Holiness Dalai Lama’s visit to Sri Lanka, which is reeling under a severe economic crisis.

They met the Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya on December 27 and were overwhelmed by witnessing a large gathering at the holy city.

The high-ranking monk wished the Dalai Lama to visit Sri Lanka and help to overcome the economic hardships his country has been facing currently. (ANI)

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ITBP Guards Indo-China Border, None Can Take An Inch: Shah

By LokMarg 31st December 2022

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that he is never worried about the India-China border as he knows that the ITBP personnel is guarding the borders there and “because of this, no one can occupy even an inch of India’s land”.

Shah was speaking at the inauguration of newly constructed buildings of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) here in Karnataka’s Devanhalli region and laying the foundation stone for a Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI) of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).
In his address, the Home Minister lauded the Himveers of ITBP for their dedicated service to the nation and said the government has been undertaking all possible steps to make the service conditions of the jawans better.

He said that ITBP serves in very difficult conditions and the nation knows the jawans as ‘Himveers’.

“The ITBP has been doing yeomen service to the Nation by keeping the toughest borders on the Himalayas safe in inhospitable conditions,” said the Home Minister.

“People have bestowed ITBP jawans the title of ‘Himveer’ which is bigger than Padma Shri, Padma Vibhushan.”

Shah said: “No one can occupy even an inch of India’s land as he knows that the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel are guarding the frontiers.”

His remarks came days after the December 9 clashes along the Line of Actual Control between the Indian and Chinese forces at the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Prahlad Joshi; Chief Minister of Karnataka, Vasavraj Bommai; Home Minister of Karnataka, Araga Jnanendra; Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education Minister, Karnataka, K Sudhakar; DG ITBP Anish Dayal Singh; and DG BPR&D, Balaji Srivastava, were also present on the occasion.

Shah’s remarks came days after the recent clash near Yangtse along the LAC in the sensitive sector took place after the over 30-month border standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh.

“On December 9, PLA troops contacted the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tawang Sector which was contested by own (Indian) troops in a firm and resolute manner. This face-off led to minor injuries to few personnel from both sides,” the Indian Army had said in a statement earlier this month.

“Both sides immediately disengaged from the area. As a follow up of the incident, own (Indian) commander in the area held a flag meeting with his counterpart to discuss the issue in accordance with structured mechanisms to restore peace and tranquillity,” it had said.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told in parliament that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops tried to transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area of Tawang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh and unilaterally change the status quo but they went back to their locations due to timely intervention of Indian military commanders.

Giving a statement in the House, the Defence Minister had also assured the Upper House that “our forces are committed to protecting our territorial integrity and will continue to thwart any attempt made on it”. (ANI)

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UK Covid Test Mandatory For Travellers From China

UK To Make Covid Test Mandatory For Travellers From China

By LokMarg 31st December 2022

After India and Japan, the UK is also likely to make Covid-19 tests mandatory for travellers from China after the infection surged in the mainland, Reuters reported citing British media outlets.

The travellers from China have to produce a negative COVID test report.
According to Reuters citing UK media reports, the UK government is all set to announce the new China arrival policy without providing specific details about the time.

This comes at a time when the United States is considering imposing new Covid-19 measures on travellers coming from China amid the surge of new Covid cases, Reuters reported citing a US official.

“There are mounting concerns in the international community on the ongoing COVID-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, being reported from the PRC,” the officials said, using the initials of the People’s Republic of China, according to Reuters.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday announced that the RT-PCR test had been made mandatory for passengers coming from five countries including China.

“The RT-PCR test to be mandatory for international arrivals from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. On arrival, if any passenger from these countries is found symptomatic or tests positive for Covid-19 infection, then he/she will be put under quarantine,” Health Minister Mandaviya said in a conversation with ANI.

Taking note of the rising cases of COVID globally, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said that the Centre and States need to work in “tandem” and in a “collaborative spirit” as was done during the previous surges.

Meanwhile, Japan also imposed Mandatory testing for COVID-19 from December 30 upon arrival for travellers from China due to an increase in the number of confirmed cases there, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.

The measure applies to travellers from mainland China and those who visited it within the past seven days. They are required to take a COVID-19 test upon their arrival in Japan. Those who test positive will be quarantined for seven days. The Kyodo news agency said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the decision on Tuesday.

In November, China saw a record increase in local COVID-19 outbreaks. Due to the deterioration of the epidemiological situation, the authorities introduced partial lockdowns in some areas while also forcing their residents to undergo PCR testing on a daily basis.

In particular, starting from November 24, restrictive measures were tightened in a number of China’s major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

Against this background, some Chinese cities — Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and others — were hit by mass protests. The rioters demanded the immediate lifting of lockdowns, the abolition of regular PCR testing, and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

On Friday, media reported that about 37 million people in China could have contracted COVID-19 on a single day last week, making the country’s outbreak the largest in the world.

It was noted that up to 248 million people, or nearly 18 per cent of the population, were likely to have contracted the coronavirus in the first 20 days of December.

The Embassy of Japan in Beijing has said that many employees of Japanese firms operating in China are getting infected with COVID-19 and are being asked to work from home, NHK World reported.

Plants are also functioning with lower capacities in China. Speaking to NHK, Yoshikawa Akinobu, head of the Japan External Trade Organization’s office in Qingdao, said that COVID-19 began spreading quickly around December 16. (ANI)

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WHO Asks China To Share Real-Time Data On COVID Situation

By LokMarg 31st December 2022

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Chinese officials and again asked for specific and real-time data on the epidemiological situation in China, according to the statement released by the WHO website.

In the high-level meeting, WHO asked for more genetic sequencing data, data on disease impact including hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths — and data on vaccinations delivered and vaccination status, especially in vulnerable people and those over 60 years old.
WHO reiterated the importance of vaccination and boosters to protect against severe disease and death for people at higher risk.

China’s National Health Commission and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration briefed WHO on China’s evolving strategy and actions in the areas of epidemiology, monitoring of variants, vaccination, clinical care, communication, and R&D.

During the meeting, WHO called on China to strengthen its clinical management and impact assessment, and expressed willingness to provide support in these areas, as well as on risk communications on vaccination to counter hesitancy. WHO also invited Chinese Scientists to engage more closely in COVID-19 expert networks including clinical management. WHO has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution on January 3, according to the statement.

“WHO stressed the importance of monitoring and the timely publication of data to help China and the global community to formulate accurate risk assessments and to inform effective responses,” the statement reads.

Earlier, on Thursday, Ghebreyesus held a press conference and said that the global body remains concerned over the evolving situation in China as COVID-19 infections witness a new spike in the country after curbs were eased.

Tedros said that the WHO will continue to offer its support for clinical care and protect the shattering healthcare system of China.

“We remain concerned about the evolving situation and continue encouraging #China to track the #COVID19 virus and vaccinate the highest risk people. We continue to offer our support for clinical care and protecting its health system,” Tedros wrote on Twitter.

Regarding the travel restrictions and guidelines issued by several countries for travellers from China, Tedros said that due to the unavailability of an apt amount of information from China about the outbreak, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in such ways.

“In the absence of comprehensive information from #China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways that they believe may protect their populations. #COVID19,” Tedros tweeted. (ANI)

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US Intel Report Links China’s Biological Warfare Ambition To Covid

By LokMarg 27th December 2022

China had revealed its biological weapons ambitions long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, according to a new US intelligence report.

On December 15, the House Intelligence Committee released a declassified report examining the Intelligence Community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic following a two-year investigation.

The report examines the IC’s posture to support global health security policymakers, the IC’s performance in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the steps the IC must take to strengthen any future pandemic response.

“In 2005, the US State Department publicly stated the US assessment that China also operates an offensive biological weapons program, specifically identifying two Chinese entities as likely involved, one of which is the Fifth Institute. In a 2006 declaration of compliance with the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention, China acknowledged that the Fifth Institute specifically researches SARS coronaviruses,” the report reads, as quoted by Indo-Pacific Centre for Strategic Communications.

The US Intelligence report also took note of the book titled “The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Artificial Humanized Viruses as Genetic Weapons,” released by AMMS in 2015.

“The book described how to create weaponized chimeric SARS coronaviruses, the potentially broader scope for their use compared to traditional bioweapons, and the benefits of being able to plausibly deny that such chimeric coronaviruses were artificially created rather than naturally occurring,” the report states.

Last week, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on China to share the data requested by the world health body to better understand the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Gaps in our understanding of post-COVID-19 conditions mean we don’t understand how best to treat people suffering from the long-term consequences of infection. Gaps in our understanding of how this pandemic began to compromise our ability to prevent future pandemics,” the WHO chief said during a weekly press conference.

“We continue to call on China to share the data and conduct the studies we have requested, and which we continue to request. As I have said many times before, all hypotheses about the origins of this pandemic remain on the table,” he added.

Tedros also expressed concern about the evolving situation in China, with increasing reports of severe disease.

Three years after its emergence in China’s Wuhan, exactly how SARS-CoV-2 first emerged as a respiratory pathogen capable of sustained human-to-human transmission remains the subject of active debate.

Experts have put forward two dominant theories on the origins of the virus. The first theory is that SARS-CoV-2 is the result of a natural zoonotic spillover. The second theory is that the virus infected humans as a consequence of a research-related incident. (ANI)

Chinese Human Traffickers Target Poor Asian Nations

By LokMarg 27th December 2022

Chinese human traffickers are targeting poor Asian nations and have been found tricking people from poor Asian nations to migrate to China in the name of jobs and then selling them for forced marriage or prostitution or slavery and other kinds of illegal activities reported Meta Khabar.

China has been known for the rampant human trafficking trade, which, however, is no longer limited to the walls of the country. Chinese human traffickers have extended their tentacles outside China in recent years, research and news reports have revealed, adding that there are horrific claims about such sold people being killed in China for organ harvesting.

The recent development comes from Nepal where the local authorities have arrested two Chinese nationals. Ten Nepalese were promised better jobs by these arrested Chinese nationals but were later forced to do illegal things, reported Meta Khabar.

Sharada Prasad Chaudhary, superintendent of police at Nepal’s Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau, said, “Our investigation of the rescued women and girls has shown that most of the young women taken from Nepal to China as brides are sent are forced to take prostitution.”

In 2019, too, Nepal Police arrested ten people for trafficking Nepalese girls on the pretext of marriage to China but allegedly used them as domestic workers and sex slaves. The Nepalese Embassy in China has time and again rescued Nepalese victims trafficked to China. Chinese traffickers often escape government radar as they avoid breaking rules and following procedures.

“Although Chinese nationals take Nepalese women by following all legal processes, these women are at high risk of being used as sex slaves or unpaid laborers,” said Anjana Shakya, chairperson of the Alliance Against Trafficking of Women and Children.

Chinese traffickers carry out illegal human trade by posing as businessmen or workers of infrastructure projects China is building in different countries, reported Meta Khabar, adding that the implementation of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has seen many Chinese nationals coming to Pakistan regularly.

Many cases of bride trafficking are reported through fraudulent marriages between girls from poor and minority backgrounds and Chinese men. These alleged Chinese traffickers entered Pakistan as businessmen of companies that did not exist. According to a report by Brookings Institute, they bought poor Pakistani girls for USD 3,500-5,000.

There are accusations that the government chose business with China over justice for the affected and vulnerable girls from marginalized backgrounds. The prosecution has been insufficient and questionable, say social activists.

While there are no government statistics, investigations by NGOs and news agencies revealed as many as 629 women especially vulnerable women from the Christian community were sold as brides to China in 2019, reported Meta Khabar.

When the issue of human trafficking by Chinese people led to an uproar in Pakistan, the authorities charged 52 Chinese traffickers in 2019. However, more than half were acquitted soon or granted bail and the opportunity to flee Pakistan.

While the Chinese government and embassies have been issuing statements against human trafficking, the world’s second most powerful country has feeble laws to stop the illegal trade. One can be imprisoned for seven years in China for buying illegal plants but buying a human attract a jail term of just three years and that too is not enforced actively.

China did not have any punishment for human trafficking until 1997. (ANI)

China To Drop COVID-19 Quarantine For Inbound Travellers From Jan 8

By LokMarg 27th December 2022

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, China on Monday announced an end to the coronavirus quarantine rule for inbound travelers from January 8, reported Reuters.

The National Health Commission scrapped the rule which had been in place since the start of the pandemic three years ago.
China’s management of COVID-19 will also be downgraded to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A, the health authority said in a statement.

However, travelers will still require a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to enter the country, reported Reuters.

Further, the National Health Commission also stopped announcing daily Covid-19 cases on Sunday, and passed the baton to a disease control agency, a practice more in line with the management of lower-level infectious diseases.

Authorities will also no longer refer to Covid-19 as a form of pneumonia.

While Covid-19 has always been a category B infectious disease in China – a class that also includes HIV, viral hepatitis, and H7N9 bird flu – authorities have managed it as category A, empowering local governments to impose strong measures such as lockdowns, isolation, and quarantine.

It also allows them to enlist law enforcement to aid with disease control.

Meanwhile, cases have surged since China largely dismantled its zero-tolerance policy towards the coronavirus in recent weeks, inducing nationwide shortages of test kits and medication.

The intensity and magnitude of the country’s first nationwide outbreak have remained largely a mystery as official figures from the central government remain low, reported The New York Times (NYT).

The government has a narrow definition of which deaths should count as caused by Covid. Anecdotal evidence, like social media postings of hospital morgues overcrowded with body bags, is quickly taken down by censors.

Now, a picture is emerging of the virus spreading like wildfire. One province and three cities have reported Covid estimates far exceeding official tallies in recent days, reported NYT.

At a news conference on Sunday, an official in Zhejiang Province, home to 65 million people, estimated that daily Covid cases there had exceeded one million.

In the eastern city of Qingdao, population 10 million, a health minister said on Friday that there were roughly half a million new cases each day, a number he expected would rise sharply in the coming days, local news sites reported.

In Dongguan, a city of seven million in central Guangdong Province, a city health commission report on Friday estimated between 250,000 and 300,000 new cases daily.

And in northwestern Shaanxi Province, officials in Yulin, a city of roughly 3.6 million people, logged 157,000 infected on Friday, with models estimating that more than a third of the city’s population had already been infected, according to local media.

These numbers contrast sharply with those from China’s national health commission, which on Friday reported about 4,000 Covid cases for the entire country, reported NYT.

Health experts and state media outlets have downplayed Covid’s severity, focusing on stories of recovery rather than of severe illness. The result has been a one-sided presentation of an outbreak that some experts believe could cause over a million deaths in the coming few months.

Notably, the Communist Party has cast aside the restrictive “zero Covid” policy, which set off mass protests that were a rare challenge to the Communist leadership.

Meanwhile, there is a shortage of medicine, as Covid rips through parts of China, millions are struggling to find treatment — from the most basic cold remedies to take at home to more powerful antivirals for patients in hospitals.

Gripped with grief and anxiety, many in China want a national reckoning over the hard-line Covid policy. Holding the government accountable may be a quixotic quest, reported NYT.

Despite Beijing’s assurances that the situation is under control, data on infections has become more opaque amid loosened pandemic constraints. As Covid sweeps across the Chinese capital, Beijing looks like a city in the throes of a lockdown — this time, self-imposed by residents.

China has acknowledged only seven deaths from Covid in the past two weeks and a few thousand new cases daily, which health experts call a vast to undercount, reported NYT. (ANI)

Two Covid Positive Detected At Kolkata Airport

By LokMarg 26th December 2022

Two persons returning from abroad have tested positive for the Coronavirus infection at the Kolkata Aiport, airport sources said on Monday.

Both samples have been sent for genome sequencing.
According to sources, one of the positive passengers came from Dubai on Saturday while another came from Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur.

Patients are kept in quarantine in Beliaghata ID Hospital.

Following the advisory ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’, issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has commenced random post-arrival testing for International arrivals at Delhi Airport, said Dr. Gauri Agarwal, Founder of Genestrings Diagnostic Center on Sunday.

According to the new instructions by the government, 2 percent of all passengers arriving at international airports have to undertake random post-arrival testing at the Delhi Airport from December 24. This is being done to reduce the risk of ingress of the new COVID-19 variant BF.7 in India.

Earlier in the day, four international travellers from Myanmar tested positive for the Coronavirus infection at the Delhi airport.

It is pertinent to mention that Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a virtual meeting with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) at 4 pm today for the Covid-19 preparedness, situation.

Recently, the IMA also issued an advisory and appealed to the public to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour with immediate effect.

“In view of the sudden surge of COVID cases in different countries, the Indian Medical Association alerts and appeals to the public to follow COVID appropriate behaviour with immediate effect.”

“As per available reports, nearly 5.37 lakhs new cases have been reported in last 24 hours from major countries like USA, Japan, South as per the available reports, nearly 5.37 lakhs new cases have been reported in last 24 hours from major countries like USA, Japan, South Korea, France, and Brazil,” read the statement of IMA.

The entire country is gearing up for a possible fourth wave of Covid-19, with the new Omicron sub-variant BF.7, which is said to be the reason behind the surge in Covid cases in China, being detected in India. (ANI)

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